294 THE BREEDS OF LIVE-STOCK 
tions continued to be made into the eastern states with 
more or less regularity up to about the beginning of the 
Civil War. Importations are thought to have been made 
in 1822 by H. W. Hills, of Windsor, Connecticut ; about 
1837 by John P. Cushing, of Massachusetts, and in 1848 
by E. A. Brown, of Ohio. While the imported cattle 
gave their owners entire satisfaction as far as hardiness, 
ease of keeping and milk-production were concerned, they 
failed to find much favor where the milking is done by 
men, because of the shortness of their teats. In Canada 
and in Scotland, where women milk by stripping with the 
thumb and forefinger, this fault was not the serious objec- 
tion that it was in eastern United States. It is possible, 
too, that another reason why the Ayrshire did not grow in 
favor more rapidly was that the center of the breed, in 
its early history in the United States, was in New England, 
and in the hands of dairy-farmers. The cattle were kept 
for practical purposes, and but little attention was paid 
to breed characteristics, to exhibiting at the fairs, or to 
advertising the merits of the breed in any other way. 
325. Description. — The individual Ayrshire (Plate 
XI) is an animal of medium size, the standard weight 
for mature cows being one thousand pounds, while bulls 
should weigh fifteen hundred pounds or more (Figs. 
49,50). In general conformation it is, perhaps, a little 
smoother than the Jersey and Holstein, yet it is not so 
smooth as to conceal the wedge shape of the body when 
viewed from behind. A little peculiarity frequently seen 
in the Ayrshire is that the tips of the ears are frequently 
notched. The horns are white, with black tips, and 
curve outward and upward. They may attain large size. 
The body is large and deep and the ribs well sprung; the 
rump is broad and long, and is usually set high. The 
