3J4 NEW E N G L A x\ D FARMER 



RhodcsT^vhTkept tlie largest dairy in London, and I idler than that from my otI.Pr cow. Tlic trial 



APRIIi 6, 1841 



wlioso experience extended to about lliirty years, 

 and who therefore ought to know the merits of a 

 cow as well as Youatt, the editor of the Cultivator, 

 or his correspondent " C," were willing tn put up 

 with "the increased trouble which they g:ivc," if 

 they hail only been able to procure them. And on 

 page 10'25 of the same work, it is said, that " A 

 cow in Ayrshire thai does not milk well, »vill foon 



as made with great care, and the correctness of 

 the result may bo rnlied on. The Ayrshire cow 

 has be%Mi ke|)t with my oilier stock, and fared no 

 better than the rest; still she appears in better 

 thrift than any of my other cows, and endures the 

 cold of winter quite as well, upon the whole. From 

 the little experience \ have had, I cannot doubt 

 that the Ayrshire, for its dairy properties, is greatly 



I have never seen superior to the Diirhams for this part of our coun- 



be brought to the hammer. 



cows any where that* under the same imrte of feed- 

 ■irif; and titntment, would yield so much milk as the 

 dairy breed of that district. Ten Scotch pints per 

 day, (20 quarts.) is no way uncoinmnn : several 

 cows yield for a.une time 12 pints, ami sonic 13 

 or 14 pints per day." Mr Harley.as I have stated 

 iu my former article, says that he "had one cow 

 that gave 40 quarts per day : had a number of very 

 fine cows which produced from 25 to 30 quarts per 

 day." Low states, on the page of his work al- 

 ready icfericd to, that " By long attention to the 

 characters that indicate a disposition to yield milk, to have been stall-fed." 



try. ■ And Mr Randall stated at the agricultural 

 meeting held at the State House, Huston, in March, 

 1841, that "He judges the Ayrshires second to 

 none as dairy slock. 'I'his breed do well on short 

 food, will thrive where the Durhams will dwindle. 

 They are mart tasily kepi than oiir native stock, 

 and with the same keep, will get more milk and 

 more flesh from the Jiyrsliirts than from the natives. 

 Feeds his stock mostly upon straw and 1 1-2 peck 

 of roots per day to each animal. The bull thus 

 kept, was thought by many, from his fine condition, 



the breed of Ayrshire has become greatly more es- For further American testimony in favor of the 

 teemed for ll.e dairy than other animals much su- Ayrshires, I will refer to a iiuinbcr of the Yankee 

 perior to them in size and fattening qualities." And i Farmer, published, I think, betwern the latter part 

 Mr Colman, in his Second Report, page 54, says | of September and middle of November, 1840, where 



the "dairy stock in England which seems to have 

 the preference over all others, is the Jjijrshires." 

 He also says in his Fourth Report, that "they are 

 reputed to yield largo quantities of milk, and pro- 

 duce large amounts of cheese and butter, besides 

 keeping themselves in good condition and being 

 easily made ready for the butcher." And as i 

 have formerly staled, Mr Ilarley gives the same 

 testimony, and the reasons he gives for tht-ir fatten- 

 ing so easily, are the same as those given on page 

 21 of the Zoological Survey of this State, viz : " the 

 food that produced the large supply of milk, is con 



amongst others, if 1 recollect right, is to be found 

 the names of Mr Webster and Mr Cliy. And the 

 last, though not the worst witness I shall bring 

 forward at present is, Mr Rankine, as quoted by 

 "C." and endorsed by the editor of the Cultivator. 

 He says : " It is on the inferior soils and moist cli- 

 mate of Ayrshire and the west of Scotland, that 

 their superiority as milkers is most remarkable. On 

 their natural food, of poor quality, they give milk 

 abundantly and long, and often within a few days 

 of calving." Hence follows the objection I have 

 already stated, viz : their ninniuir to fat on rich 



verted into fat and flesh." Mr Colman also states! pasture. I had almost forgot another witness, viz: 

 that tlicre is good reason to think thciii a /larrfiVr the editor of the Cultivator himself, who says. 



The Ayrshire cow of Mr Randall, is the only coi 

 of the breed which has began in this State to sus- 



race of animals than the Durhams. He goes on to 

 state, that " from some of the gentlemen to whose 

 care the Society's animals were committed, I have 

 been unable to obtain aa full information as is de- 

 sirable. Mr Wcbatei's forethan, in his absence, 

 informed me that the co.v were quite superior as a 



milker." Mr Brooks says — " My cows give about i So I wish " Swinly" great success, and 

 the same quantity each. My Ayrshires do not, / she continue to sustain it. One such 



us the most ;)er cu;)i(em. If it costs three times 

 much to raise and keep an improved Short Horn 

 our climate and on oor soil, as one of the nati 

 breed, although it gives twice the butter and chec 

 and twice the beef, it may be a poor stock for uc| 



Now it will be observed that in all the evidei 

 we liave brought forward, wherever large quail 

 ties of milk, butter and cheese are spoken of, if 

 also distinctly stated, that the cows were hit;}, 

 kept, or the data is founded on such a supji 

 It seems they do not believe that rich pasti 

 jurcs iheir " high dairy character ;" and it 

 be strange if they did, when they see the I 

 every day exerting his means and skill to i 

 most extent in the improvement of his pi 

 which in the dairy parts of Ayrshire, and u: 

 Scotland, so far as I know, with a few exci i 

 are the fields they use for other crops in n i 

 they take only one crop of hay before paslurii 

 down tlie field. And 1 should think by the 81 

 ment of Mr Phinney, viz : that his cow was gri 

 on old dry pasture, and had but a short bite 

 grass, while trying the experiment, and that si 

 was fed the same as his other cows, and that of B 

 Randall, that his cow was fed on a short pasUyi 

 that they supposed their cows would have product 

 more nn rich pasture ; and I also think, from 

 gentle rebuke given them by the Commissioi 

 viz: that they are not at "all suspected, from 

 pearanccs, of subjecting themselves to the same 

 nance," that he understood them so. 



I thought that the quotation I made from Harl 

 viz : that for about twenty years, whole coloi 

 of the improved breed had been carried to oi 

 ciuinty of Scotland, and to many counties of B 

 land, would have convinced him that they 4 

 both common and sought: but it appears not-J 

 without even making an attempt to rebut the sU 

 ment, he informs us that " we have never seen ( 

 reason to alter our account of the Ayrshire 8t6M < 

 except in one respect — as to their size. We 

 resented them as being as large as the De(M 



tain the statement in the N. E. Farmer." It is no | wlien we should have said smnlkr." I know Ml 



think, give more than 13 or 14 quarts at best, and 

 the milk no richer than others with the same feed. 

 It is, however, a valuable race in our State, as do- 

 ing lit// in our common pastures, and not running; to 

 fat like some. They are very gentle." Mr Phin- 

 ney, in a recent letter, thus writes : "I have ghcn 

 the Ayrshire stock a pretty fair trial, considering 

 my limited means, — enough howev«r to satisfy me 

 of their valuable dairy properties, and of their ca- 

 pacity for enduring the cold winters and short 

 Veep of the northerly part of the country. In the 

 .month of June, J840, I selected from twenty cows 

 any beat jp»tive cow, for the purpose of making a 

 trial with my Ayrshire cow, as to the quantity of 

 buttor each ivoJJd make. My old pastures, for I 

 had then done little to improve them, afforded but 

 a very short bite of grass. These two cows ran 

 with my other stock, and had no other food than 

 what they could get in these dry pastures. The 

 quantity of milk from the .Ayrshire wag not greater 

 than that from my native cow; but the Ayrshire 

 mado nine and three quarter pounds in a week, 

 while the nalivo cow, in the same lime, made but 

 eight and a half pounds. Besides, the qunlity ol 

 {tho butter from (h^ Ayrshire cow was decidedly 



mall comfort to a person, when he gets the lie di- 

 rect from such high authority, to have one evidence 

 in their favor which it is admitted tells the truth. 



may 

 will 

 bear a greater proportion to the number of Ayr- 

 shires in this State, than the 2000 cows being gen- 



sonietimes difficult for persons to see a reason I 

 altering what they have said, if the alteration bei 

 against themselves, even when they intend to gi' 

 a " fair and candid" statement. Was it their lar( 

 size that was the reason (for he gives none,) of th( 

 less adaptcdness to the light lands of Knglani 

 then what is his opinion now when he has foul 



erally of that breed spoken of Mr Alton, will bear j out that they are imn//er? I should think it Wl 

 to those of Scotland. If the editor and his friend i be vice versa, but probably he had some other r* 



"C." would think of this, it would probably assist 

 their belief But they might then perhaps see a 

 "reason to alter" their opinion about the Durhams, 

 which perhaps for n certain other reason, would not 

 answer well at present 



Now I think wc have shown that I ho Ayrshire 

 has all the marks of a dairy cow, as defined by 

 Low and Loudon, and the large amount of milk, 

 buttor and cheese which they produce, verifies 

 these marks. And if we have been right iu our 

 supposition as to what breed would be mo.-it desi- 

 rable for New Kngland, I think we have also shown 

 that they have all tlie characteristics of such a 

 breed. 



Can the editor of the Cultivator or any of his 

 correspondents, bring forward as good evidence of 

 a more suitable breed, and ono that will give us 

 better and cheaper milk, buttor, cheese and beef? 

 For, as a writer in (he Albany Cultivator well re- 

 marks, it is " what stock or stocks will give us 

 these things cheapest, and not what 8to<:k will give 



son with which he did not wish to burden our mea 

 ory. In an editorial article published in Ins ptpi 

 of date November (ith, 1841, when highly recos 

 mending a cross with the Durhams, as the bei 

 stock tor this country, he makes the followini; staU 

 ment, viz: " In the large milk establishments aboi 

 London and Liverpool, they will have none but Ik 

 Durham cows, or a cross with them, for the rcaiO 

 that from a given quantity of keep, they obtai 

 more milk and beef." Will he bo so kind as to ill 

 form us in which of the London and Liverpool dt 

 rios this is the case, where the Ayrshires have hii 

 a fair trial. We have already shown that it is ne 

 the case in Mr Rhodes' dairy, which, if I inislall 

 not, is the largest in London. But as he protect 

 to guard his brother farmers against "cxaggcraW 

 accounts" he certainly had good reasons for mil 

 ing the assertion. As it now stands it is ratJ* 

 loose for my faith, but I shall be satisfied with 

 good evidence in its favor as that of Aitoo. A 

 admitting the fact, it is no proof that tliey aro^ 



