Viil.. XV. XO. 40. 



AND If R T ( C U L T U ii A L REGIS T E R 



315 



8t «:.>rk for Nlmv Kiigland, ts the kind of fcoj 

 eil .:i lliL- two places is very liifferent. 

 In '.!u' same article ho makes the rnllowlng stutp- 

 (nt about the Ayrsliires, viz : "Tlioy are a •mall 

 otluli stock, and on iho danio kcpp, smaller than 

 r native stock." Tlio inference to be drawn 

 im this slutoincnt is. th.it they do not thrive well 

 iho same kci'|). How does such doctrine agrco 

 h the statements of .Messrs. Phinnoy, Randall, 

 Brooks, or any other person who has tried the 

 >eriment ? or even with his own slntoincnt, viz. : 

 they " have proved excellent on the short pas- 

 s of Scotland" ? t leave hirn to answer the 

 Btion, and if he gives a ''fair and candid" one, 

 will see a good " reason to alter" one more ac- 

 nt which he has given of the Ayrsliires. 

 Jut to return to our former article. He »«ys, 

 r Vouatt, on poor soils, gives the preference to 

 r forefathers the Iliglilamlers, their neighbors 

 Gallowoys, and considers them considerably 

 nJ their Short-horn sizes." As I am not cer- 

 that I fully underi-tand this statement, I shall 

 it over at present, by asking a few (juestions. 

 t, uliat line of demarcation does he draw be- 

 en " inferior soil" and '• poor soil" .' Secondly, 

 I proof can be give that the Highlanders were 

 forefathers of the Ayr.shircs ? Thirdly, for 

 t does he give them the preference — the dairy 

 he shambles ? And fourthly, in what respect 

 he " consider the Galloways, on poor soils, 

 ^iderably behind tlieir Short-horn sizes"? 

 [e farther states, " I do not believe that ony 

 of cows will average 24 quarts of milk eacli 

 day, and as the writer l)y quoting Mr Alton to 

 fact, has made this extravagant statement his 

 I infer he must have labored under some ex- 

 dinary bias, for I have been credibly informed, 

 neither the animals imported by the Massa- 

 ells Society, or Mr Cushing, have produced an 

 gc of two thirds of this quantity, and we have 

 reason to presume that both of these impor- 

 us were some of the best specimens of the 

 d." Now (here is such a " large economy of 

 " in part of this statement, that I cannot pass 

 •er without notice. It does not look well for a 

 )n whose professed object is to correct the ex- 

 rated statements of others, to violate the ninth 

 nandmeot himself; for I caimot insult hisjudg- 

 . so far as to suppose he did not know Ihc dif- 

 ice between what he has tried to make Mr Ai- 

 >ay, and what he (Mr Alton) really did say. 

 person that cannot perceive the difference be- 

 n the two statements, must have a very obtuse 

 indeed. But after all, how dues he know 

 there is not a race of cows that will average 

 uorls each per day .' Is he so well informed 

 t all the existing races of cows, as to be eer- 

 ie is right ? We have already shown him 

 be knows much less about one of the races 

 he supposed he did ; and wc shall show him 

 ir proof of the fact presently. 

 5 informs us that the cut of the Ayrshire cow 

 las figured so much of late in the columns of 

 'ultivator, "is to be found in all the standard 

 5 treating of neat cattle, both in this country 

 urope." He certainly professes a very large 

 linlance with such works: I cannot make such 

 But little as I am acquainted with Ihc^e 

 5, 1 can point him to two at least, where such 

 is not to be found, viz: Ilarley'g and Lou- 

 ; and if he is not satisfied with their illustra- 

 of the Ayrshire cow, I will refer him to the 

 bloods themselves. But wherever he has got 



his cut, I would advise him to correct ill errors, if! in the cities of Scotland, the cows ineh*'"""'' '''' 



it is not too Ulc, lest somo person, followiii){ Ins 

 example, give it u name, viz: Atrrriiini's ^li/rshirc 

 People who live in glass-houses, should not throw 

 'stones. I say, too, "let every animal and breed 

 ! stand on its own bottom and pictures." If the 

 Ayrshircs had as much knowledge of law as some 

 people have, they would sue him, if not for defamu- 

 lion of character, certainly for uiisrepreseiilation of 

 outline. 



" C." farther slates, "I regarded your account 

 (the editor of the Cultivator's,) of this stock, fair 

 and candid — placing the subject before the public 

 without exaggeration, while it corresponds with 

 the views of the most authentic writers which I 

 have read on Iho subject." However this may be, 

 we think we have shown him that it does not cor- 

 respond with authentic writers whose "confidence" 

 hns been "brought in question" as seldom as You- 

 att's, and who had a much better opportunity of 

 judging the facts of the case. Alton kept a large 

 dairy in Ayrshire, and of course knew the qualities 

 of the breed fro:ii expericnco. And, as we have 

 already slated, Mr Harley kept a dairy in Glasgow, 

 and was therefore likely to know whether Alton's 

 statement was fact or fiction ; and as ho lived 

 amongst, and wrote for, the instruction of the peo- 

 ple who kept the cows which ho speaks of, it is 

 highly probable that his account would have been 

 " brought in <)uestion" if they had considered it ex- 

 aggerated. And as somo of the quotations we 

 have made from Loudon, are credited to Aiton, it 



litieM 



»ted. 



f\l- 



Mr .\iton, were aelecled for their dairy t, " 

 ntili/, and after theso qualities hid bcm well t 

 When feed is high priced, h cow cannot be pro 

 ubly kept 111 the city of Edinliiirgh, which cives le«> 

 than lli quarts of milk per day; and 1 suppose tho 

 case is much tho sumo in (ilasguw. 



'i'he iiiformalion " C." received about Mr Brooks' 

 cow, is probably not more credible in any sense of 

 the word, than that given by .Mr Brooks himself, as 

 already quoted — which, to make the most of it, is 

 u mere giuss. But admitting th it both his pre- 

 suniplion about, and his account of, tlieise two im- 

 portations is true, it does not therefore follow, that 

 Mr Alton's account is "exaggerated," except he 

 can prove that their keep and treatment have been 

 cijually good, " As the nature of the grass or other 

 vegetables has a very considerable influence both 

 on the quality and on the quantity of milk which 

 cows produce. Instances have occurred where six 

 milch kine fed on some pastures, have yieldeei ns 

 much milk as nine, or even a iloztn will afford on 

 an inferior ground." The above quotation is taken 

 from page 'M of the Complete Grazior. There 

 must certainly be a great difference in the amount 

 of milk produced from n cow fed in the manner 

 quoted above from the Farmer's Magazine, with 

 the addition of grains, which is the coiiinion way 

 of feeding in cities and large towns in .Sccjtlaud, 

 and one fed in tho way that Mr Phinncy says his 

 Ayrshire cow was. 



If " C." cannot " believe" any or all of the above 



would appear that Ac believed him, and both of (perhaps to him) "exaggerated accounts of ne»r 



these giMitlemen are as credible evidence as You 

 att, whom the editor of the Cultivator and his cor- 

 respondent have adopted as their infallible guide. 

 The former gentleman travelled through the best 

 dairy countries on the continent, for information on 

 llie subject, and assisted in establishing some of 

 the London and Kdinh«rgh dairies. He has given 

 his name to the public, and is responsible for what 

 he has said. And are the statements of such a 

 man to be " brought in question" by a person who 

 has not dared to give his name ? He must certain- 

 ly have a low opinion of the minds he addresses. 



What " good reason" has he "to presume" that 

 the cows imported by the Massachusetts Society 

 and Mr Cushing, were some of the " best specimens 

 of the breed".' If he will turn to the first column 

 in page 28(i, vol. lUth of the N. E. Farmer, he will 

 see a different opinion expressed by a gentleman 

 who is a mucii better judge of Ayrsliires than he 

 ("(/.") appears to be; and whose opinion, as there 

 expressed,"/ have never heard brought in ques- 

 tion." But, independent of this opinion, " we have 

 good reas(m" for a different presumption, so far as 

 regards their dairy character. For, as they were 

 chiefly intended to propagate the race, " we have 

 good reason to presume" they were selected for 

 their fine symmetry, (rather than their dairy charac- 

 icr,) which is no sure sign of a great milker, but 

 the reverse, as such an animal has a greater ten- 

 dency to run to fat, than one of a coarser make. 

 And if I mistake not, some of these animals were 

 imported before their milking qualities were known, 

 not then having had their first calf; and if I air) 

 correct in this last opinion, (but as I only speak' 

 from memory, I will not be positive,) I think that 

 il is neiiher " fair nor candid" to hold ihcin up be- 

 fore the public as tho best specimens of the breed 

 for milkers. 



While on the other liand, "we have good rea- 

 son to presume" that from the high price of keep 



things," I hope for his own credit he will rebut 

 them by stronger proof and better logic than ho 

 iias yet produced; and that he will not pervert 

 their mcariing, and than go learnedly to work and 

 knock down his own man of straw, ns he has done 

 in his :ast article. 



Believe me, dear sir, yours respectfully, 



ALEXANDER BICKETT. 

 Lowell, Mass., March 'ZMh, 1842. 



^^j" Personally, we have no disposition to enter 

 tnto tonlrovcrsy with the editor of the Boston Cul- 

 tivator or his correspondents. We shull not do it. 

 Hut the reasons which determine our course with 

 the editorial pen, do not exclude the insertion of 

 articles by others, who are ready to give their 

 names. Our correspondent's article is a good ar- 

 gument in defence of his own positions, and gives 

 interesting information as to what the Ayrshires 

 can be made to do under favorable circumstnncea. 

 It 18 longer than we wish communications to be — 

 but we could not well abridge il without doing 

 harm to the defence. 



We have no such acquaintance with the Ayr- 

 shires as authorizes us to hold a decided 0|iiiiion as 

 to Iheir merits ; but the animals we have seen of 

 that breed, are pleasing to the eye, excepting m 

 one particular : the teats are too small ; — it iiiudt 

 be inconvenient getting the milk from them. Thai 

 they are hardier than the Durham, and better suit- 

 ed to New England pastures and winters, arc natu- 

 rally inferred from their size and form, and from 

 the climate which has produced them. — En. . 



Envy. — Envy ought, in strict truth, to have iiu 

 place whatever allowed it in the heart of man, — 

 lor the goods of this present world are so vile and 

 low, ihut they arc beneath it ; and those of tho fu- 

 ture world are so vast and exalted, that they arc 

 above it. — Lacon. 



