THE AYRSHIBKS. ll'J 



"Mr. Alton rates the profit of the Ayrshire cow at a liigh 

 value. He says : ' To sum up all in one sentence, I now repeat 

 that hundreds and thousands of the best Scotch dairy cows, when 

 they are in their best condition and well fed, yield at the rate of 

 2000 Scotch pints of milk (1000 gallons) in one year; that, in 

 general, from 1}4 to 8 pints (3/4 to 4 gallons) of their milk will 

 yield a pound of butter, county weight (IM pounds avoirdupois) ; 

 that 55 pints (27M gal^us) of their milk will produce one stone 

 and a half, imperial weight, of full milk-cheese. 



"Mr. Rankine, thejjuthor of an excellent report of a Kyle 

 farm, and some of whose observations, with which we have been 

 privately favored, we have embodied in our account of the Ayr- 

 shire cattle, very justly, we think, maintains that Mr. Alton's 

 statement is far too high, and his calculations not well founded. 



"'I quote with confidence,' Mr. Rankine proceeds, 'the 

 answers to queries which I sent to two individuals. The first is 

 a man of superior intelHgence and accuracy, and who has devoted 

 himself very much to dairy husbandry. He keeps between 

 twenty and thirty cows, and his stock has for years been the 

 handsomest I ever saw, and his farm being close to a small town, 

 he had every inducement to keep them in the highest condition 

 that is requisite for giving the largest produce in milk. He states 

 that, at the best of the season, the average milk from each is 9 

 Scots pints ('k/4 gallons,) and in a year, 1300 Scots pints (650 

 gallons) ; that in the summer season, 64 pints (32 gallons) of 

 entire milk wiU make an Ayrshire stone (24 pounds) of cheese ; 

 and 96 pints (48 gallons) of skimmed milk will produce the same 

 quantity; and that 180 pints (90 gallons) will make 24 pounds 

 of butter. 



" 'Another farmer, in a different district of this county, and 

 who keeps a stock of between thirty and forty very superior cows, 

 and always in condition, states that the average produce of each is 

 1375 pints (687)a gallons). My belief, on the whole, is, that 



