THEIR WORTH. 63 



OPINIONS OF THEIR WORTH. 



As early as 1805 the merit of the breed seems to 

 have been known beyond their home, and Ro. Forsyth 1 

 mentions their presence and estimation in Renfrew- 

 shire, Perthshire, Dumbartonshire, and Stirlingshire, 

 and Aiton 2 mentions their inroad into Galloway in 

 1802. In 1842 the "Dumfries and Galloway Cou- 

 rier" 3 speaks of them as "creeping fast over Dum- 

 friesshire and Galloway." In 1872 they had been 

 around distant Inverness for a number of years. 4 

 Their merits have also been recognized in foreign 

 countries, as witness their exportation to America, 

 the Canadas, France, Oldenburg, and Norway. 



Sinclair 5 writes, "The Ayrshires are perhaps the 

 best milkers of their size in Great Britain, and at the 

 same time are excellent feeders when dry of milk, for 

 they fatten faster and to as great an extent as any of 

 the other breeds in Scotland." 



The " Dumfries and Galloway Courier " 3 of July 1 1 , 

 1842, says, "The opinion is becoming more and more 

 general that the Ayrshire breed of cows is superior 

 to any other in our island, qua the pasture, the byre, 

 and the milk-house. In size and weight they suit the 



1 Beauties of Scotland, iii, 8, 347, 405; iv, 245. 



2 Survey of Ayrshire, p. 426. 



3 July 11, 1842, quoted in Journ. of Ag. xiii, 1st ser. p. 228. 



* Pr. Essays H. Soc. 1872, iv, 51. 



* Code of Agriculture, p. 19, note 142 of notes. 



