218 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



of butter per cow annually has been estimated at about 250 pounds, and of cheese 

 rather over 500 pounds. 



With the Polled Aberdeen-Angus, the Polled Galloway, and the West Highland 

 breeds there have not been any reliable or exhaustive milking tests. Those breeds are 

 reared chiefly for beef-making purposes; but many animals, especially of the Polled 

 description, are fine milkers. The three breeds excel in respect of the richness of their 

 milk, but comparative analyses on this point are wanting. 



The Aberdeen-Angus, taken as a whole, cannot claim to be more than fair-milkers. 

 A few cows in almost every large herd, in yield of milk, make a decent approach to 

 an Ayrshire producing between 500 and 600 gallons per annum. A considerable 

 number, however, notably where the animals have been fed hard, as heifers, would 

 not reach more than half that quantity. In these circumstances, it is doubtful if the 

 average would be quite 400 gallons per cow annually. But when you come to the 

 production of beef this breed stands second to none. Indeed, if early maturity is 

 combined with the quality of the meat, it is probably not too much to say that the- 

 Aberdeen-Angus has no equal as a butcher's beast among the pure breeds in this or 

 any country. They "die" remarkably well; that is to say, they accumulate a con- 

 siderable quantity of fat and tallow internally. Then the wealth and texture of flesh 

 are superb. 



The weight at maturity varies a good deal. Picked bulls or oxen fattened hard for 

 exhibition scale occasionally as much as 2,700 pounds, and we have seen females of 

 the breed exceed 2,000 pounds. A good average live weight for cows of the breed, as 

 they go to the butcher, is from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. Bulls generally range from 

 1,600 to 1,800 pounds. Oxen not intended for competition in the show-yard, but lib- 

 erally fed throughout, will go to the butcher at the age of thirty to thirty-six months 

 weighing from 1,500 to 1,700 pounds. The great value of the Aberdeen- Angus in a 

 country like America is its potency in crossing with the rougher native breeds. It 

 lends flesh and quality to the lanky, somewhat sharp-topped, ordinary ranch variety. 



The Galloway, like the Northern Polled, is a very old breed. It has not the credit 

 of maturing quite so early as the other polled breed, at least it seldom gets the chance. 

 It is as large in frame as the Aberdeen- Angus, but, as a rule, it is not fattened to such 

 an extent; consequently, the recorded weights are rather less for the Galloway. The 

 dairying properties of the Galloway are not high, though many cows of the breed are 

 really good at the pail, and the quality of the milk ia excellent. An American critic 

 recently said that the Galloway beat the Aberdeen-Angus in the production of oxtail 

 soup. That may be, but the breed has greater merits than that. It is exceptionally 

 hardy, carries a great quantity of very tine flesh, and is admirably adapted for a wet 

 cliojate and high exposed country. Galloways have never been so well protected 

 from cold in winter nor quite so generously fed as the Aberdeen- Angus have long been 

 and are. Galloways are so hardy and so much accustomed to exposure that they 

 should be eminently suited for ranching on the great Western prairies. They cross 

 successfully with other meat-producing breeds ; a cross between a Galloway cow and 

 Shorthorn bull, for instance, has long been a favorite butcher's beast in the border 

 counties, and commands, when well finished, as high prices as the oft-quoted "prime 

 Scot" in the Southern markets. Next to the West Highland, the Galloway breed is 

 probably the hardiest in Britain. 



The West Highland breed is comparatively unknown in America. A few specimens, 

 however, have lately been sent out, and wo hope more will follow. Being horned, 

 and sometimes nervous, or vicious even, they are not so easily handled as the Polled 

 breeds or as the Shorthorns, but their unrivaled hardiness and rare quality of flesh 

 would be of service on the American ranch. Their beef is of the richest and most 

 palatable nature, and their shapes and character are grand and pronounced. They 

 would, by judicious mating, reduce the "daylight" and tone down the " timber" of 

 the Texan or Western varieties. Many of the Highlanders are never under cover, 

 summer nor winter, and the death-rate is astonishingly small. The West Highlander 

 will not milk, mature, nor weigh with the Scotch Polled. The milk, however, though 

 short in quantity, is believed to be the richest of its kind in the Kingdom ; the beef 

 has the finest of flavors, and is beautifully mixed. They are not usually matured till 

 about four years old, but their ripening properties have not been fully tested. They 

 are fed on more scanty herbage than any other British breed of cattle. If West 

 Highlanders were fed generously from calf hood they would, as a rule, be perfectly 

 ripe at the age of three years, if not before. 



SPECIAL STATISTICS CONCERNING SCOTCH BREEDS. 



The following information is supplied to assist in properly locating 

 under similar conditions in the United States such foreign animals as 



