OEDER VIII. THE EUMINAXTIA. 



315 



the London market. The ^riddlc-horncd cattle are greatly prized f^>r tlic 

 quantity and quality of their milk, and also their adaptation to farm labors. 

 The A\'clsh cattle are easily and quickly fattened. The Snlhilk duns are 

 a small breed, without horns, but excellent for the dair_y. The Alderney 

 race is a finely-harmed and handsome breed of cattle, kept for the richness 

 of their milk. They are less hardy than the others, more impatient of the 

 cold, and require more care. The Galloway polled breed is a hardy race, 

 without horns, and celebrated for the superior quality of their beef, which 

 commands tb.e highest price in the London market. The Kyloe, or High- 

 land cattle, are wild-looking, shaggy animals, of a black color. They 

 quickly fatten, and afl()rd rich and excellent beef. London alone consumes 

 nearly a million and a half of these Highland beeves annually. 



In the United States the domestic cattle are, for the most part, the off- 

 spring of tlie British races just referred to. For some years past much 

 attention has been given to tiie cultivation and improvement of breeds, and 

 many parts of the country can boast of some very fine stock ; but this great 

 agricultural interest is not yet fully appreciated here. The Durham and 

 Ilolstcin breeds are much prized for beef and working oxen, and the Jersey 

 and Ayrshire for the superior quality of their milk. 



Milk itself is an article almost of supreme necessity. "We might do 

 without beef, but what would the tables, both of rich and poor, be without 

 milk? Butter, cheese, cream, milk, aad bread form more than half of our 

 living. In a report on the Ayrshire cow, made to the Worcester Agricul- 

 tural Society, by L. W. Curtis, Esq., that gentleman justly and eloquently 

 remarks, " It is conceded that the cow affords more luxury to man than he 

 derives from any other source. Without her, berries and milk, strawberries 

 and cream, fine cheese, and the golden butter, would never grace our tables. 

 Without butter our beefsteak would be indifferent, our vegetables unpalata- 

 ble, our toast tasteless, and our bread nnbuttered we should hardly think fit 

 to eat. Then if milk and its products are the luxiu'ies of man, the great 

 question arises, IIow can this be produced in the greatest quantities, and 

 still be rich in quality? 



" \\ itliin the past fifty years great progress has been made in perfecting 

 the good qualities of the cow. Then, one that would give ten hundred 

 quarts in a year would be a fiiir cow. Even now, nine tenths of the cows 

 in the rural districts do not average more than fifteen hundred quarts in a 

 year ; but these are not profitaljle to the farmers. We should not be satisfied 

 with less than three thousand. This may look hirge ; but we have cows 

 that have given a thousand quarts in thirty days, and probably give nearer 

 five thousand than three thousand in a year. Youatt estimates the amuial 

 yield of an Ayrshire cow at thirty-four hundred quarts ; Alton sets it much 



