58 THE BUSINESS OF DAIRYING 



foods with profit in winter. There are other breeds 

 which do better when more closely confined and 

 subjected to high feeding. Some cows give a heavy 

 flow of milk for a short period and others are more 

 persistent, giving a good flow throughout the year. 

 Many of these different characteristics pertain to 

 dairy breeds, so that a dairyman knowing what he 

 wants, can choose his breed without pronounced 

 opinions or direct advice from others. There is no 

 one best breed for all. The best breed is the breed 

 best suited to each individual dairyman's needs. 

 It is simply a question of making a proper study of 

 the subject, and no dairyman has to go far in this 

 country to find a good breed for milk production, for 

 the cream trade or for butter-making. It has been 

 demonstrated that the best cow for butter is also the 

 best cow for cheese. 



It will not be out of place to mention briefly, in 

 this connection, some of the characteristics of the 

 breeds most prominent in the dairy world to-day. 

 Let us have clearly in mind at the outset what a 

 breed is. We recognize a class of animals as a 

 breed when they have been subjected to and repro- 

 duced under the same conditions until they have ac- 

 quired a distinctive character common to all mem- 

 bers, which, reproduces with very slight variations. 



PRINCIPAL DAIRY BREEDS 



Ayrshire. — A breed adapted to the rougher and 

 less fertile sections of the country, for the reason 

 that they originated in the county of Ayr, Scotland, 

 a region of moderate fertility, with natural pas- 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



