Q04 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
AYRSHIRE COW 
American Cattle—V- 
lContinued from page 173.] 
THE AYRSHIRE. 
We have never heard the most partial advo¬ 
cates of the Ayrshire, claim for this breed any 
thing beyond a rare eminence as a dairy cow. 
We have never seen a steer, or a bullock among 
the scores of Ayrshires which we have known 
in several different States, and the Canadas. As 
a beef animal, or a working ox, they are never 
mentioned. But having achieved a high reputa¬ 
tion during many years past for her feats at the 
pail in her native land, the cow is still celebrated 
by her keepers, since her transfer to America. It 
is the covj, then, of which we are chiefly to speak, 
and we will strive to do her justice. 
HER HISTORY. 
Youatt, in his history of British Cattle, says— 
writing in the year 1833.—“ The origin of the 
Ayrshire cow is even at the present day a matter 
of dispute ; all that is certainly known about her 
is, that a century ago there was no such breed 
in Cunningham or Ayrshire, in Scotland.” He 
quotes the valuable work of McAiton, on the 
“ Dairy husbandry of Scotland,” and Ayrshire in 
particular, to show that “fifty years ago,” the cat¬ 
tle of Ayrshire, were a diminutive, ill made race, 
and not particularly prized for their milking prop¬ 
erties. Through several pages of speculation as to 
what crosses have composed the breed known dis¬ 
tinctively as “Ayrshires,” at the time he wrote, 
and an elaboration of many facts relating to their 
yields of milk and butter in the Ayrshire dairies, 
he leaves the impression that the present breed 
has sprung from a succession of crosses by 
Short Horn bulls upon the native Scotch cow ; 
that the produce of these crosses were interbred 
among themselves with care and an eye to im¬ 
provement both in form, and dairy quality, which 
finally resulted in an animal eminently fitted to 
the climate and soil of South Western Scotland— 
the best of all they have, for dairy purposes—and 
become by a persistent course of well managed 
breeding, a distinct variety in themselves. Such 
seems to be—not only by Youatt, but from the 
best information we have been able to obtain from 
intelligent Scotch farmers who profess to know 
any thing about it—the upshot of her history. The 
effort appears first to have been to introduce the 
Short Horns, and substitute them as a dairy cow 
in place of their own inferior race. That failed ; 
but the cross of the Short Horn was successful; 
and hence the breed. 
About twenty years ago, they first made their 
appearance in America—first imported into Bos¬ 
ton, Massachusetts, both by some Agricultural 
Associations, and one or two fine public spirited 
gentlemen who wanted cows and bulls of decided 
dairy qualities for their own use, and the improve¬ 
ment of their native stock. These were followed 
by several other importations into Massachusetts, 
and New-York, at different times, and these suc¬ 
cessfully bred, their descendents have been scat¬ 
tered into various other States, so that now the 
Ayrshire is a name well known among our breed¬ 
ers, and others familiar with the different breeds 
of improved foreign cattle. 
DESCRIPTION. 
On the first view, by a judge of the different 
varieties, the Ayrshire would be called a diminu¬ 
tive Short Horn, in the main, so nearly in figure, 
color, and prominent characteristics do they ap¬ 
proach them. They are about the size of our 
common stock, compact in form, exactly built for 
a dairy cow—light forward, and heavy behind— 
with an exceedingly homelike, domestic appear¬ 
ance. In color, they vary, from a brown, run¬ 
ning in lighter shades up to red, and into a pale 
yellow, alternated more or less with white, in dis¬ 
tinct patches, rarely mingling into roan. In late 
importations, the white appears in larger propor¬ 
tions, and the darker shades are less prevalent 
than formerly—the fashion perhaps. There is 
scarcely that uniformity of appearance with them 
that there is in the Short Horns, some being de¬ 
cidedly “ Scotchy ” in look, while others decidedly 
take to the Short Horns, evidently showing a 
tendency to trace back to their ancient lineage on 
one side, or the other. Yet, they appear to hold 
true to the dairy quality throughout, which, like a 
“ gentle voice in woman,” is an “ excellent thing ” 
in a cow. The portraits of a cow, and a bull, 
which we insert will give a better idea of their 
appearance than any elaborate delineation we can 
give in words. 
THEIR ECONOMICAL USES IN AMERICA. 
The Ayrshires have thus far proved, and we 
have no doubt they will continue to prove, ex¬ 
cellent dairy cows in this country. But they do 
not, so far as we have been able to ascertain, 
maintain that high superiority as milkers that 
they do in their native land, and the reasons for 
the fact are obvious. The climate of Ayrshire is 
moist and mild. It has neither our heats, nor 
colds, our floods, nor drouths. Its pastures are 
green and succulent throughout the Summer, 
while ours are frequently parched and bare. 
Twenty years ago we visited a beautiful herd of 
Ayrshire cows in the neighborhood of Boston, be¬ 
longing to a gentleman who had imported them 
without regard to cost, giving his order to his 
agent abroad for “ the best milkers to be obtained.” 
Most of them were “ prize ” cows in Scotland, and 
certificates came out with them stating their 
yields of milk to have been from twenty-four to 
thirty-three quarts a day. In answer to our in¬ 
quiries as to how-they yielded here in comparison 
to what they did in Scotland, we were told by 
their manager, that it was about two-thirds the 
amount stated in the foreign certificates, namely : 
eighteen, to twenty-two quarts a day, under the 
same circumstances as to time from calving. 
They were imported some two years previously. 
Yet that was doing well, and satisfactory to their 
owner, who wanted certainty in the milking propen¬ 
sity of his cows, rather than the liap-hazard re¬ 
sults attaching to the progeny of the “ native ” 
stock, in which he had often, by the miscellane¬ 
ous manner of their breeding, been disappointed. 
Thus, then, on sound physiological principles, 
the milking quality having, by a long course of 
years, 1 een deeply bred into the cow until it ha« 
become an inherent part of her nature, the Ayr¬ 
shire is valuable as a dairy beast, and may re¬ 
main among us as a distinct variety, always re¬ 
liable in that department of husbandry. 
AS A WORKING OX, AND A BEEF MAKING ANIMAL 
we have nothing to say. In relation to working 
■we see no particular merit in him; rather the con¬ 
trary ; and as to beef, since they are a kindly 
feeding race, we presume that when required for 
the shambles, the Ayrshire will lay on flesh rap¬ 
idly, and show a satisfactory carcase, cutting up 
well on the block. 
-— — Tza ^> fg4 -. 
Swelled Udder in Cows- 
In addition to what has been already published, 
we have several letters on this subject. M. D. 
Adams, of Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, writes 
us : “I had a fine cow four years old, that wan¬ 
dered off to drop her calf, and it was some time 
before she could be found. She lost her 
calf, and, as there was excellent pasturage 
at the time, when she returned her udder was 
much swollen and very feverish. I could get no 
milk from her and feared I never should. But, as 
an experiment, I made a strong solution of salt¬ 
petre in water, and washed the bag every two 
hours through the day. Before sundown the 
swelling and fever abated, and I drew a pailful ol 
milk, and in 24 hours both swelling and fever had 
entirely left her. She afterwards did as well as 
any cow in my herd... .Since that time I have 
seen the same application in many similar cases, 
with like favorable results, and I believe the above 
to be one of the best remedies I have ever known 
used for the complaint. I have also found it use¬ 
ful for various swellings and inflammations, not 
only on dumb beasts but on human flesh.” 
Remark —As is the case in most remedies and 
prescriptions, as well as in a majority of descrip- ' 
tions of modes of culture sent to us, the above is 
defective because certain particulars are omitted. 
Was the solution used hot, warm, or cold. It is 
important to know how much saltpetre was used 
to a given quantity of w-ater. Does a “strong 
solution” imply 2 ounces or 2 pounds to a gallon 
of water! It may be questioned whether it was 
not the bathing and rubbing that reduced the 
swelling, rather than the addition of the saltpetre ; 
or, if this addition be necessary, would not com¬ 
mon salt be equally good. We make these re¬ 
marks as suggeslions merely—not to find fault 
with Mr. Adams’ communication for which we 
