414 CATTLE 



1853 the first systematic effort at improvement came in a scale 

 of points adopted by the Ayrshire Agricultural Association. In 

 1866, in a prize essay on county Ayr, Archibald Sturrock writes 

 that "a capacious and well-set udder is certainly the chief point 

 of excellence in the Ayrshire cow." 



The introduction of the Ayrshire to America probably first oc- 

 curred early in the last century, when Scotch settlers moved to 

 Canada. In the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society 

 for 1824 considerable discussion is devoted to breeds of cattle, 

 yet the Ayrshire is not named. John Hare Powell, the secretary, 

 who had studied the breeds in Europe, says, " I have traced every 

 importation of which I have heard," and makes special reference 

 to eight different states and various breeds, but does not mention 

 the Ayrshire. Sturtevant states that the first importation -into 

 the United States is thought to have been made in 1822 by 

 H. W. Hills to Windsor, Connecticut. In 1837 the Massachusetts 

 Society for Promoting Agriculture imported one cow, which is 

 reported to have yielded sixteen pounds of butter a week for 

 several weeks. Lewis Y. Allen of New York writes that in 1837 

 he visited the Ayrshire herd of John P. Cushing near Boston, 

 Massachusetts, who had imported from Ayrshire regardless of 

 price. In 1848 E. A. Brown introduced Ayrshires to Ohio, these 

 being the first of this dairy breed to enter the state. 



The characteristics of the Ayrshire breed of cattle are very 

 distinctive. The head, from a profile standpoint, has a some- 

 what straight line from poll to nose, the eyes are of fair promi- 

 nence, and the horns are somewhat large, though not coarse, and 

 are erect of carriage. Modern Ayrshire horns, besides being erect 

 and widespread, frequently curve slightly backward at the dark- 

 colored tips. The horns of some aged bulls are remarkably large 

 and conspicuous and, as a rule, are brought to the desired form 

 by mechanical device. The Ayrshire neck is hardly as lean as 

 that of a Jersey, the withers are attractive in refinement, the 

 shoulder tends to be smooth, and the body deep of rib and of 

 large digestive capacity. The rump is usually broad, long, and 

 well carried, while the thighs and hind quarters partake some- 

 what of fleshiness, enough so in the Ayrshire steer to produce 

 in many cases a creditable hind quarter for the butcher. A good 



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