3iO 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



January, 191 4 



Ayrshire Cattle. 



— History. — 



This breed of catt4e was origin- 

 ally found in the district of Cun- 

 ning'hame in Ayrshire, Scotland, 

 and while confined to that part of 

 the conntrv they were knovvni as 

 Cunninghame cattle. Later on 

 Dunlop of Dunlop imported cattle 

 from the north of Kngland and 

 carried on the improvement of 

 these Cunninghame cattle by cross- 

 ing with his imported stock. For 

 a time after this thev were known 

 as Dunlop cattle but as they got 

 spread over the south-western 

 counties of Scotland the term 

 " Ayrshire " was applied to them, 

 and they still retain that' name. 

 Not much is known of the early 

 history of the breed, but its im'- 

 provement started from about 

 1750. As far as can be gathered 

 from the records of the breed pre- 

 vious to that, the Ayrshire was an 

 inferior diminutive animal of a 

 black and white colour. Owing to 

 the severe climatic conditions of 

 its home the Ayrshire was natur. 

 ally one of the hardit^st of ani- 

 mals, a characteristic which it still 

 maintains to this dav. 



It is a well-known fact that the 

 established breeds of Britain have 

 l)een i)erfected bv crossing, and the 

 Ayrshire also falls into line in this 

 respect. 



In 1750 the Earl of Marrhmont 

 P'urchased from the Bishop of Dur- 

 ham several cowis and a bull of 

 the Teeswater or some other Eng- 

 lish breed of a light brown colour 

 spotted with white. These His 

 Lordship kept for son-.e time at his 

 seat in Berwickshire. Bruce Camp- 

 bell, his factor in Ayrshire, carried 

 some of the breed into that coun- 

 ty. From there their pro'en v 

 spread throughout the, country. 

 These cattle were of th2 Shorthorn 

 tyi)e, but sub.secin;ntl - cros ing 

 with breeds of Holland took place. 

 Probably from the red and white 



cattle of (Holland, the colouring; 

 of the Ayrshire of to-da^- is in- 

 herited. It is also Dossible that 

 crossing with the Wiest Hisrhland 

 cattle and the wild white cattle of 

 Scotland also took place.' Some of 

 the characters of the modern .\vr- 

 shire, such as shape of horn, 

 colour, and conformation, seem to 

 indicate that such crossing did 

 take place. 



No names of improvers of Ayr- 

 shire cattle are outstanding. The 

 improyeme.nt seems to have been 

 pretty generally carried on in the 

 districts where the Ayrshires were 

 found. The first real systematic 

 effort at improvement came about 

 through the introduction of a scale 

 of points by the Ayrshire Agricul- 

 tural Association in 1853, and it 

 may be considered to havei been 

 established as a pure-breed by that 

 date. The next important step in 

 the ad^'a^cement of the Ayrshire 

 was effected throut^h the formation 

 of the Ayrshire Cattle Herd-book 

 Society of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land in i8'7'7, aod the following 

 year the first volume of the herd- 

 book was published. This herd- 

 book has been published annually 

 since that date, and contains the 

 pedigrees of all animals re<ristered, 

 together with a fev nhotc^raDhs 

 of champion pri^.e winners at the 

 leading shows of Great Britain. 



— Distribution. — 



At the present time the di.stnibu- 

 tion of the Ayrshire is world wide. 

 They followed Scotch .settlement 

 throughout all parts of the British 

 Empire. In Australia, New Zea- 

 land, and Canada large numbers 

 are to be found, while in the Unit- 

 ed vStates of America, South Afri- 

 ca, Russia, .Tapan, Norway, and 

 Sweden, and Denmark thev are 

 found in small numbers. The in- 

 troduction of the Ayrshire to 

 America dates back as far as 1822. 

 At the same time the Scotch 

 .settlers started to emigrate to 

 Canada, and the Ijreed has since 

 made steady progress in that 



country. Several Canadian Ayr- 

 shire cattle societies are now in 

 existence. In recent ears qiuite a 

 trad© has sprung- up between Swe- 

 den and Scotland, the Ayrshires be-« 

 ing well suited to the severe cli- 

 matic conditions of that country. 



It is worthy of remark that 

 Ayrshires are found in largest 

 numbers in the countries which are 

 large exporters of dairy products. 



— Characteristics of Ayrshires. — 



The Ayrshire is essentially a 

 dairy cow, having been bred up 

 and improved chieflv for milk pro- 

 production. While the 'Ayrshire was 

 being improved as a m.ilk producer 

 it was recdgTiized that the consti- 

 tution must be maintained, with 

 the result that to-day it is claim- 

 ed for the Ayrshire that it is one 

 of the hardiest, the most stylish, 

 and graceful of all beasts. Gener- 

 ally of a brown and white colour, 

 with head erect, and th'e> most per- 

 fect formation of udder, the Ayr- 

 shire cannot fail to tal'e the eve 

 of any stockbreeder. ^ s r^T^ards 

 colour, this varies in different 

 herds to some extent, but in indi- 

 vidual herds is orettv unilorm. 

 Breeders in Canada favour those 

 which are mostly white ; those in 

 Japan and Sweden those which are 

 more of a brown colour ; so that 

 to-day we have individual farmers 

 in Scotland caterincr for the special 

 reauirements of each country. 



The Avr.s'hire prossesses a neat 

 head of medium size, carrvinrf well 

 set UP and stvli.sh horns. The neck 

 is fine, long-, and clean-cut, well 

 set on to head and shoulders. The 

 body of the Avr.shire is capacious, 

 po.s.sessino- the tv^^crl v^'-^-e form- 

 ation looked for in most da rv 

 breeds. The ribs are lono- and 

 well sprimo-, extending well down- 

 wards and backwards. The back 

 is straio'ht and the " nlqtes " 

 broad and level. The hindn'ia'rters 

 are Hsrht as compared with otlier 

 dairv breeds, and do not nartakie 

 of fle.shiness. Tlie udder is the 



QUOBE T IMBER MILLS.>^ 



TIMBER OF ALL KINDS. Galvanized Iron, Joinery, Mouldings. Turnery, Shadehouse Battens.Tpeiijr Lath";. 

 Boxes and Cases of Every description made up or packed in Shooks. 



Butter Boxes and Fruit Cases a Speciality. Write for Prices. 



Flinders Street, Adelaide, and at Port Adelaide. 



