CATTLE. S3 



in England it is the universal custom to keep one or 

 several milch cows. 



The milch cow race par excellence of the British empire 

 comes originally from those islands of the Channel which 

 are detached fragments of our Normandy. The breed 

 usually goes under the name of Alderney, or, in French, 

 Aurigny. The greatest precautions are adopted for 

 maintaining the purity of this race, which is, after all, 

 only a variety of our own. A large number of heifers 

 are bred in the Channel Islands and sold into England, 

 where they are in great request among the wealthy 

 classes for their dairies in the country. Any one who 

 has visited Jersey must have admired these beautiful 

 animals, so intelligent and gentle -looking, which stock 

 the pasture-lands of that island, and which form a part 

 of the family of every farmer there. Although naturally 

 good, the affectionate care with which they are treated 

 has not a little contributed to render them so productive. 

 The Jersey people are as proud and jealous of them as if 

 they were the greatest treasures in the world. 



This race, however, has a rival in one which much 

 resembles it, and which has been produced from it by 

 crossings namely, the Ayrshire in Scotland. It is not 

 long since Scotland was in an almost uncultivated state ; 

 Ayrshire, particularly, has been cultivated, with some 

 degree of care, only within the last fifty or sixty years. 

 This country, at one time covered with heather and moss, 

 has become a sort of Arcadia. Eobert Burns, the shepherd 

 poet, was born there. His rustic poetry, which was written 

 about the time of the French Eevolution, was coeval with 

 the dawn of agriculture in his native country. The same 

 feeling which inspired the pastorals of Burns, raised up 

 that charming race of Ayrshire cows, whose graceful 

 forms, speckled hides, quiet disposition, large udders, and 



