THE AYRSHIRE 



2 9 I 



in a show ring alongside other breeds is conspicuous for the 

 uniform and superior type of udder. In quality Ayrshires are 

 only medium, though thick heavy skins are far too abundant. 

 The temperament is of a nervous character, this being especially 

 true of the bulls, the cows having a reasonably mild disposition. 



The size of the Ayrshire is fairly uniform in the mature type. 

 The American standard calls for the mature bull to weigh about 

 1500 and the cow 1000 pounds. The Scotch standard favors a 

 cow weighing about 1050 pounds. Sturtevant gives the weights 

 of nine pure-bred aged cows in his herd, which varied from 985 

 to 1 200 pounds. The cows in Mr. Winslow's herd from 1881 to 

 1887 showed an average 

 yearly weight of from 

 1 020 to 1 1 02 pounds per 

 head. 



The Ayrshire as a milk 

 producer has ranked high 

 since she first became 

 known as a breed. In 

 1811 Aiton wrote that 

 probably 1200 Scotch 

 pints (2148 quarts) of 

 milk from each cow in the 

 course of a year would be 

 a fair average. In 1829 

 Harley, a famous dairy- 

 man, placed the average of his herd at 12 quarts a day. One 

 of his cows for a considerable time gave 40 quarts per day. 

 Ayrshire milk is only average in quality, usually testing between 

 3.5 and 4 per cent butter fat and 12.5 per cent total solids. 



Ayrshire herd milk records of interest have been available for 

 many years, a number of eastern breeders having long kept such 

 statistics. In the Sturtevant herd in Massachusetts in 1873- 

 1874 an average of 5475 pounds was secured from 14 cows. 

 Mr. J. D. W. French of Massachusetts reports average herd 

 records between 1874 and 1890 ranging from 5222 pounds to 

 6934 pounds per head. Between 1880 and 1889 the herd of 

 Mr. C. M. Winslow of Vermont averaged from 5782 pounds to 



FIG. 131. Knockdon Maggie, a prize-winning 

 Ayrshire cow in Scotland, owned by Alex- 

 ander Cross, Kilmarnock. Photograph by 

 the author 



