THE AYRSHIRE BREED. 343 



of, that the Dairy Breed of Ayrshire owes the characters 

 which distinguish it from the older race to a mixture with 

 the blood of races of the Continent, and of the Dairy Breed 

 of Alderney. 



The modern Ayrshire may stand in the fourth or fifth 

 class of British Breeds with respect to size. The horns are 

 small, and curving inwards at the extremity after the man- 

 ner of the Alderney s. The shoulders are light, and the 

 loins very broad and deep, which is a conformation almost 

 always accompanying the property of yielding abundant milk. 

 The skin is moderately soft to the touch, and of an orange- 

 yellow tinge, which appears about the eyes and on the mam- 

 mae. The prevailing colour is a reddish-brown, mixed more 

 or less with white. The muzzle is usually dark, though often 

 it is flesh-coloured. The limbs are slender, the neck is small, 

 and the head is free from coarseness. The muscles of the 

 inner side of the thigh, technically called the twist, are thin ; 

 and the haunch frequently droops much to the rump, a charac- 

 ter which exists likewise in the Alderney Breed, and which, 

 although it impairs the symmetry of the animal, is not re- 

 garded as inconsistent with the faculty of secreting milk. 

 The udders are moderately large, without being flaccid. The 

 cows are very docile and gentle, and hardy to the degree of 

 bearing to subsist on ordinary food. They give a large quan- 

 tity of milk in proportion to their size and the meat con- 

 sumed, and this milk is of excellent quality. Healthy cows, 

 on good pastures, will give from 800 to 900 gallons in the 

 year, although, taking into account the younger and less pro- 

 ductive stock, 600 gallons may be regarded as a fair average 

 for the low country, and somewhat less for a dairy-stock in 

 the higher. 



Few of the steers of this breed are reared for grazing, and 

 the male sucking-calves are sold to the butchers either when 

 young, or when fed with milk for a longer or shorter time. 

 The cows, when they become dry, fatten quickly, which is a 

 property common to all good milch- cows. But the value of 



