STOCK. 267 



ably of short-horn descent. However this may be, the merits 

 of many Ayrsliires of •which we have knowledge cannot be 

 questioned ; and their reputation as dairy stock is considerable 

 in this country. For our present purpose, it is proper to con- 

 sider them as a distinct breed. As before remarked, the best 

 Ayrsliires arc not unlike diminutive short-horns in general ap- 

 pearance, though they present a diversity in form and color not 

 to be found in the older breed. They are commonly red and 

 white, though black and brown hair often enters into the com- 

 position of their coats. As handlers they are deficient, and 

 they are too small ever to become popular as working cattle 

 or as subjects for the butcher.* It is as dairy stock alone that 

 the Ayrsliires have for some years maintained their reputation 

 at home ; and in that respect alone have they been considered 

 worthy of attention on this side of the Atlantic. They are 

 small and hardy, thrive on very moderate feed, and yield an 

 abundance of good milk. This is the character claimed for 

 them by their friends ; and to a certain extent they have, in our 

 own neighborhood, verified this reputation. They have so 

 recently appeared among us that it is impossible to pronounce 

 decidedly upon their power to permanently improve our native 

 stock. But they certainly deserve a fair trial; and bulls of 

 this family arc doubtless far superior to the miserable native 

 mongrels so commonly employed by our farmers.t 



The faruiers of Bristol County, in common with their breth- 

 ren throughout the country, have had few opportunities to make 

 themselves acquainted with the excellences of the Alderney; 

 but as several gentlemen about New Bedford have become in- 

 terested* in this breed, and there is a probability that at no 

 distant period the blood will not be uncommon in the county, 

 it is proper to call attention to them in an article which pur- 

 ports to point out the materials for improvement existing in 



* It is notorious that well-bred short-horn bulls are to be found on the estates of 

 the Ayrshire breeders in Scotland, confessedly for the purpose of getting stock for 

 the butcher. Their presence on such estates must have the effect of strengthening 

 the faith of those who question the claims of the Ayrshire cattle. 



t Colonel Page, of New Bedford, has a full-blooded Ayrshire bull of the liandall 

 stock ; and Jonathan Tripp, of Dartmouth, has a handsome grade Ayrshire from the 

 blood of the Cashing importation. 



