DOMINION OF CANADA. 549 



report from the agricultural college of Ontario concerning the Short- 

 horns on the college farm : 



Wo can speak highly of the milking properties, in quantity and quality, of the 

 most of our cows of this breed making good calves or reliable milkers, as the case 

 may have been. We have nothing to say against the sure breeding of the cows, but 

 our four bulls in these years have not given satisfaction in this respect. Without ex- 

 ception they have caused delay, loss, trouble, and extra expense, why,I am not pre- 

 pared to say ; two were imported and two Canadian bred ; none were ever in such high 

 flesh as those of some other breeds. If 'tis said the choice of individual bulls was bad, 

 then the reply is that three independent judges did so ; if management by want of 

 practical knowledge is charged, then the same management had to do with the other 

 bulls that have stood so well. If the Shorthorn requires on an average more draw- 

 ing-room attention than other beefing breeds, then it had better be acknowledged at 

 once, and I don't think their admirers need bo ashamed of the fact. We have fattened 

 Shorthorn grades, Hereford grades, Devon grades, Ayrshire grades, and Galloway 

 grades for beef both in the stall and on pasture, and nothing equals the Shorthorn in 

 giving that stamp to produce weight in the shortest time on Ontario conditions growth 

 of youth on good pasture and finishing in the stall. 



TOE CANADIAN AYRSHIRE. 



In the report of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario for 

 the year 1882 the number of Ayrshire cows in the province is estimated 

 at three hundred and bulls at one hundred, scattered through the 

 counties of York, Ontario, Simcoe, Peel, Halton, Wentworth, Fronte- 

 nac, Lanark, Carlton, Russell, and Prescott, with a few in Oxford and 

 Northumberland. The Ayrshire cow has long been famous the world 

 over for an enormous yield of 'milk, rich in cheese-making properties, 

 and in Canada she seems to have fully maintained her pre-eminence in 

 this particular. Speaking from nothing but my own observations, I 

 should say that the Canadian Ayrshire would average somewhat large 

 than the same breed in the United States. This I think may probably 

 be the result of the natural beef- breeding tendencies of Canadian farm- 

 ers and the unconscious influence of Shorthorn neighbors. The report 

 from the agricultural college concerning this race of cattle is as fol- 

 lows : 



We have had a pretty thorough test of the Ayrshire cattle. In sure breeding we 

 have no cause to complain nor can anything bo said against their adaptability in 

 raising a calf. Every cow we have has to be milked three and four weeks previous to 

 calving an imperative necessity to avoid milk fever ; after calving, two of our best 

 have regularly suckled two calves and, in addition, have had to be milked with the 

 hand twice daily for two or three weeks, depending upon the time of year, whether on 

 grass or in stall. We have not, however, been treated to that continuance of milk 

 that I was intimate with in the Lothian of Scotland the great flow lessening more 

 rapidly and dribbling too long. I do not attribute this to actual poorer pasture or 

 keep otherwise, but to the great difference in climatic condition and the want of that 

 important variety of grasses secured only in permanent pasture. It is not true in our 

 experience that the Ayrshire cow gives a lack of milk on comparatively bare pasture, 

 in which regard she is on an average decidedly inferior to the Canadian, but it is true 

 that her milk is of that blue tyjie not so rich in cream as characterizes them in 

 their own country. * * * Practically, then, as regards the pure Ayrshire, they 

 require good treatment in order to maintain their famous milking properties, and I 

 am of opinion that an infusion of new blood is as often needed as in any other breed 

 not so much a change of bull from other herds in this country as that of a directly 

 imported one. 



As to prices I am quite sure that Ayrshires of pure blood of average 

 excellence can be bought for much less money in Canada than in tho 

 United States. 



THE CANADIAN HEREFORDS. 



This breed is comparatively a newcomer in Canada, although Mr. F. 

 W. Stone began importing them into this province in 18GO, much to the 

 amusement of the Shorthorn breeders, who had a curiously satisfied faith 



