THE UNITED KINGDOM. 133 



selection entirely to her remarkable appearance. Looking out of the -window at my 

 hotel one morning I saw a collection of animals which had been brought together for 

 the inspection of the gentleman, who, it was to be hoped, would be soft enough to buy 

 up anything that was presented to him as a "rale Kerry," and singled out from the 

 group, and as it seemed in the act of being purchased, was so queer a specimen, that, 

 running down stairs in alarm, and appearing on the scene of action, I began to re- 

 monstrate against the transaction. My protest, however, availed not. Cockle, as 

 she was soon appropriately named from having been bought by the sea-shore, was 

 selected for her oddity, and sent home with the rest, being not much to speak of as 

 to body, but the owner of a long pair of wide-spreading horns that might almost 

 have graced the head of a Spanish cow. Needless to remark, she was received by 

 the cow-herd with littlo favor, and barely tolerated about the place as "master's 

 fancy." By-and-by heavy trouble coming down upon the occupier of that farm, a 

 change of residence was resolved upon and most of the live stock sold; but a mere 

 nothing being offered for Cockle when she came to the hammer, she was bought in 

 and removed, as I before said, to the north, where, after producing her second calf, 

 the despised Kerry proved so excellent a milker, giving 20 quarts at first, and never, 

 I believe, going below 12 or 14 until just running dry her butter also being very 

 rich and plentiful that her reputation became so great as to cause her progeny to be 

 in great request. 



This of course was all mere chance. With Kerries, as with all other live stock, the 

 great thing is to choose well and continue to breed from the best subjects. The 

 breed is capable of great development upon good land, for we have seen at Irish cat- 

 tle shows, Kerry cows very little, if at all, smaller than good-sized Ayrshires ; such, 

 for example, as some of those bred by Mr. Brady near to^Dublin, and* as the meat or 

 the Kerry is considered by connoiseurs to bo particularly good, it may not be unde- 

 sirable to take size into consideration, although this is a point that I personally should 

 care littlo about. A really good herd of KeiTies would bo found, if I mistake not, in 

 more ways than one, a profitable investment. 



The first cross, however, between a Kerry and Shorthorn is not suit- 

 able for a severe mountain climate and poor pasture. The more Short- 

 horn blood that is iutroduced the better the cattle must be cared for, 

 whereas, if the better care be bestowed on the Kerry breed the results 

 will be more satisfactory for dairy purposes, and ultimately quite as 

 good as regards increased size. The following are the results of some 

 experiments carried, out on the British Government's model farm at 

 Kingwilliamstown, and will be read with interest. The elevation of 

 the farm is about 800 feet, the pasture fine, the situation exposed, and 

 the climate moist. The experiments were conducted for the purpose of 

 ascertaining the relative value of Galloway, Ayrshire, and Kerry cattle 

 for dairy purposes. The conditions, however, were not quite equal, 

 inasmuch as the Kerry and Galloway cattle were heifers with their first 

 calf, whereas the Ayrshire were with their fourth calf. The cows were 

 all wintered on the farm, and from the published report it would appear 

 they had nothing but hay. The quantity consumed by each breed was 

 carefully noted. Each Galloway consumed 21 J pounds a day, each 

 Ayrshire 24f pounds a day, and each Kerry, 16| pounds a day. From 

 this it would seem that the Kerry is easier fed than most breeds of cat- 

 tle, and this assumption is supported by the opinion of those most con- 

 versant with the breed. 



As regards the relative size of the breeds the report states that the 

 Galloway cattle when fat would make about 6 cwt., the Ayrshire 5cwt. 

 to 5J cwt., and the Kerry 4 cwt. The milk was measured and manipu- 

 lated separately from the time of calving to the 17th of June, and as 

 regards quantity, with the following result: Each Galloway cow gave 

 average of 6J quarts a day; each Ayrshire gave an average of 9 quarts 

 a day; and each Kerry gave an average of 7J quarts a day; the Kerry and 

 Galloway giving these quantities after their first calf, and the Ayrshire 

 after their fourth calf. The same Ayrshire cows, three years earlier, after 

 having had their first calf, gave only 7 quart a day each ; that is, 

 only half pint more than the Kerry cows under the same conditions j so 



