ENVIRONMENT. 71 



Changes induced by change of environment, illus- 

 trations of which are numerous, ought to teach us 

 not to expect the Ayrshire to be always, or often, 

 when taken to new countries, true to her fame. We 

 believe her to be a smaller milker in New England 

 in general than she is in Ayrshire. The atmosphere 

 here carries habitually less water, and there is less 

 of nutritious food in our pastures, and more wear of 

 life in obtaining it. Yet she is a larger milker in 

 New England, we believe, than is any other breed. 

 Although our climate is unlike that of Ayrshire, and 

 our feed less milky, the sum of her conditions offers 

 not as great contrasts as obtains when the Hoi stein 

 is sought to be acclimated with us. 



The degree of hardiness of a breed may be in- 

 ferred from the nature of its home. The Ayrshire 

 is exceptionally hardy. Though you may not expect 

 to freeze her blood in the yard, and at the succeeding 

 thaw find her milk flow unimpaired, her coat sleek, 

 and her back straight, yet she will be as profitable 

 with those who expect all this from a cow as any 

 other. But for her sake we should advise such not 

 to breed Ayrshires. A pump with valves at the bot- 

 tom of the well will be better property. 



Expose her to hard fare and rough winds, she will 

 not be handsome, but the constitution she carries 

 with her, and her inherited vigor, will be manifest. 

 With the bestowal of better feed and reasonable pro- 

 tection, the dormant forces of her nature are awak- 

 ened, and in uses she acts, and in appearance she 

 looks, the beauty of the yard. 



