13 



considers the faults of the progeny of the previous sire of some other 

 breed. 



BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE. 



It wouild be unwise in a bulletin so limited as this must 

 necessarily be, to attempt to give a full history and an elaborate 

 description of even the few dairy breeds above enumerated, to say 

 nothing of "the various other breeds with some claim to recognition 

 as economical milk-producers. To omit all remarks on the subject 

 would, however, possibly be open to still greater criticism and 

 accordingly the following brief notes on the history, appearance 

 and peculiar aptitudes of the principal breeds as known to Canadian 

 dairy farmers are submitted. 



AYRSHIRE. 



The Ayrshire is one of the principal breeds of dairy cattle in 

 America. They are medium-sized animals, spotted red, or brown and 

 white. They possess great vitality, are of a nervous disposition, and 

 respond readily to good feeding. They are hardy and well suited 

 for rough pasture and scant herbage. They yield a fairly large 

 flow of milk of medium quality. A common yield is 8,000 pounds 

 of 3 to 4 per cent milk in 9 or 10 months. Their chief faults are 

 a tendency to beefiiiess, shown by a rather large proportion of the 

 breed, and the very common and rather serious defect of small teats. 



As the name implies, the Ayrshire had its origin in Scotland. 

 The south-western portion of that country was in a very poor state 

 as far as agriculture was concerned at the end of the 18th century. 

 An historian of that period says that there were no crops whatever 

 sown, and all the food the cattle had was the grass in the bogs and 

 wastes. Under these circumstances the cattle were starved in winter, 

 * being scarcely able to rise in the spring.' Such were the conditions 

 from which the hardy, useful race of Ayrshire cattle has come. It 

 may be inferred "that only the fittest survived, and the inherent hardi- 

 ness seems to have been but little disturbed by whatever crosses have 

 been made. It is supposed tbat these native cattle were crossed with 

 imported Teeswater or Durham cattle, and with Alderneys or Jerseys, 

 though there is no historical evidence of this. 



The first importations of Ayrshire cattle into Canada were made 

 between 1820 and 1830. For some time they did not meet with 

 munch favour, but with the formation of Breeders' Organizations, 

 Dairy Tests, and Advanced Registers they have taken their rightful 



