306 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



To the above we may here add what Mr. Colman has more recently said of 



Ayrsliire and North Devon cattle, (the two breeds imported by the Massachu- 

 setts Society,) being the result of inquiries and observation on the spot: 



" The statement of a fanner in Stirlingshire, 

 of the highest eminence, given to me, was 

 that his Ayrshire cows, in the best of the sea- 

 sou, aveniged one pound of butter per day ; 

 that he has known two Ayrshire cows to 

 make two pounds two ounces each per d;iy ; 

 and that with him sixteen quarts of milk pro- 

 duced one j>(>und of butter. 



"The North Devon stock have some strong 

 advocates as a milking stock. Tiie most pro- 

 ductive cow in butler which I have found 

 ■was a North Devon, which, for several weeks 



We must conclude what wc have to say for the present about Ayrshires, with 

 the follovv'ing (which we find in the American Agriculturist) from Mr. Norton, 

 Professor of Chemistry as applied to Agriculture, at Yale College. It is dated 

 Edinburgh, 25th October, 1844: 



in succession, without extra feed, produced 

 twenty-one pounds of butler per week. The 

 character of tlie owner places the fact beyond 

 a doubt. Mr. Bloomfield, tlie eminent ten- 

 ant of Lord Leicester, after many years' ex- 

 perience, states that his North Devon cows 

 will give an average of four pounds of butter 

 per week through the year. One English 

 pint of milk, as he adds, will produce one 

 ounce of butter; that is, eight quai'ts will 

 make a pound."* 



'•■ I found the Ayrshires generally the only 

 breed in ih<;t part of Scotland ; of course 

 there tire mixtures and crosses, but they 

 very greatly jirevijl. The largest lunnber of 

 cows upon any of the farms which I saw 

 was at Mr. Jolin Teimant's, 6 miles irom Ayr. 

 Ho had al)out 90 ; some 30 of them, how- 

 vvov, were fattening. Mr. Alexander, of 

 Southbarr, has a fine dairy of about 40, at 

 VveUwood, neai- Muirliiik. Mr. Fleming's, 

 of Barrochan, is also worthy of notice. I was 

 particularly pleased with that of Mr. Burnett, 

 of Gadgirlh, where every particular as to 

 each churning is entered in a book kept for 

 the purpose, so that a glance tells the quan- 

 tity of cream or milk used, the weight of but- 

 ter obtained, the time occupied in churning, 

 and the temperature. 



"Weight of thk Ayrshires. — On this 

 point I could only obtain an ai^proximation to 

 a general ride. The average weight of Mr. 

 Tennant's cows, as he informed me, is from 

 36 to 43 stones (about .000 to COO lbs.) dead 

 •weight. — I found that the animals raised e.x- 

 pressly for fattening, are almost invariably a 

 cross with the Short-Horns. Every large 

 farm that I visited, had a fuUblood Short- 

 Hom bull. 7Vte improvement m shape and 

 size from, this cross is very great. They 

 also mature much earlier. Mr. Teimant 



turns his oflf at two years old past, and says 

 that they then weigli fiom 50 to GO stones, or 

 from 700 to 850 lbs. Two very important 

 points are thus attained — increase of size, with 

 a gain of from 6 to 12 months in the time of 

 maturing for market. On some farms the 

 Angus or Polled breed seemed to be favor- 

 ites for fattening ; and on others the small 

 West Highlanders are bought in the autmnn, 

 and sold in the succeeding autumn, after a 

 year's keepuig on the rich lowland pastures. 

 " Mii.KiNG Qualities. — The Ayrshires, as 

 you are probably aware, stand very high va 

 this respect. Though they are small in size, 

 their milk is abundant in quantity and re- 

 markable for richness. Mr. Tennant stated 

 that in the flight of the season his cows yield- 

 ed about 10 Scotch pints, or 30 English, per 

 day, and that they averaged not far from 170 

 lbs. of butter per annum. Mr. Fleming, how- 

 ever, told me that on the best lowland pas- 

 ture, a good cow yields 2,000 Scotch pints, 8 

 of which are considered equal to a pound ot 

 butter. This would be 240 lbs. per annum; 

 on poorer or high land he would not expect 

 more than 150 pints, or IGO lbs. butter, wliicb 

 would nearly agree with Mr. Tennant's state- 

 ment. The Scotch pint is 3 English pints — 

 350 to 400 lbs. of whole milk cheese is men- 

 tioned as a fair average." 



Finally, on this as on other matters treated in this journal, we may safely say 

 with Mr. Colman : " My business is with facts, and having no prejudices of 



* It is tlirough Mr. Bloomfield that Mr. Patterson, of Springfield, Md., obtains a fresh Devon bull every 

 two or three years. In reference to his last, which we recently saw in a field with twenty-sis magnificent 

 Devon cows and heifers, he was good enough at our request to give us the following extract from J. Bloom- 

 field, Jr., dated 30th June, 1846 : 



" Wiih respect to the hull, I consider myself vei-y fortunate in being able to ofter you an animal which 

 will do us, as breeders, much credit. He is out oV one of our best cows, by ihe bull I bought in Devou- 

 ehire, and which is, I believe, a near relalion to to the bull which olilHincd the first prize of 20 sovereigns 

 and the gold raedid, at the Royal Agricultural Show last year— Mr. James Quartly, of Molland m Devcm- 

 shire, beins the breeder of both that and my bull's sire. A Mr. Bicketr, iiom your county, f ent out by the 

 MaBs»ch)ifeUs Agricultural Society to Felect cattle, .'aw him last summer, but he was unfortunately laioe 

 and could not go. Mr. K. took a I'ciur-montbs-old bull calf instead." 



It is deemed useful to preserve such extracts as items of cattle history. 

 (6'JG) 



