THEIR WORTH. G3 



OPINIONS OF THEIR WORTH. 



As early as 1805 the merit of the breed seems to 

 have been known beyond their home, and Ro. Forsytlii 

 mentions tlieir presence and estimation in Eenfrew- 

 shire, Perthshire, Dumbartonshire, and Stirlingshire, 

 and Aitou'^ mentions their inroad into Galloway in 

 1802. In 1842 the "Dumfries and Galloway Cou- 

 rier"' speaks of them as "creeping fast over Dum- 

 friesshire and Galloway." In 1872 they had been 

 around distant Inverness for a number of years.* 

 Their merits have also been recognized in foreign 

 countries, as witness their exportation to America, 

 the Canadas, France, Oldenburg, and Norway. 



Sinclair" writes, "The Ayrshires are perhaps the 



best milkers of their size in Great Britain, and at the 



same time are excellent feeders when dry of milk, for 



they fatten faster and to as great an extent as any of 



J the other breeds in Scotland." 



The " Dumfries and Galloway Courier " ' of July 1 1 , 

 1842, says, "The opinion is becoming more and more 

 general that the Ayrshire breed of cows is superior 

 to any other in our island, qua the pasture, the byre, 

 and the milk-house. In size and weight the}^ suit the 



' Bcanties of Scotland, iii, 8, 347, 405 ; Iv, 245. 



* Survey of Ayrshire, p. 426. 



3 July U, 1842, quoted in Joum. of Ag. xiii, let eer. p. 228. 



' Vr. Essays H. Soc. 1872, iv. 51. 



» Code of Agrkuliure, p. 19, note 142 of notes. 



