88 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BREED. 



milk. The cow, Miss Macpherson 1252, of the Erica 

 tribe, which I purchased recently of Mr Adamson, is now 

 giving 6 Scotch pints a day, more than nine and a half 

 months after calving." Writing at a later date on the 

 same point, the Earl of Airlie says: "The Scotch pint 

 to which I referred is a measure of 12 gills, equal 

 to 3 imperial pints, or 1J imperial quarts. When 

 I wrote on this subject I had some cows that (newly 

 calved) gave 14 Scotch pints or 21 English quarts ; and 

 one cow, I think, 15 pints or 22 J English quarts. I have 

 now some cows that are giving as much as 12 Scotch 

 pints, or 18 English quarts, daily, though quite three 

 months calved. The cows are milked three times a-day, 

 which I believe to be the usual practice in Scotland. I 

 do not know the weight, as the pint and quart are mea- 

 sures of capacity, so that of course the weight depends 

 on the specific gravity of the milk. But it is admitted, 

 I believe, that the milk of the polled Angus is richer in 

 cream than that of either the Shorthorn or Ayi shire." 



The northern polls have risen rapidly in public estima- 

 tion within the past ten or fifteen years. Their reputation 

 may now be said to be world wide. Animals of the breed 

 have been exported to the Australian colonies, to the Con- 

 tinent of Europe, to South America, and to Canada and 

 the United States. In the two latter countries an exceed- 

 ingly keen demand has sprung up for them, and it is pro- 

 bable that within the past eighteen months more than 500 

 specimens of the breed have crossed the Atlantic. The 

 cry from the United States is still for more polls, and it 

 is probable that although every animal of the breed now 

 in this country were sent across to them, the wants of our 

 transatlantic cousins would still be unsatisfied. 



This great expansion in the demand for the northern 

 polls has of course brought forth a corresponding increase 

 in their market value. About twelve months ago good 

 polled cows, with ordinary pedigrees, would have sold at 



