Vol. XXXIX. No. 12. 
Whole No. 1573. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 20, 1880. 
$ Price Five Cents. 
) $2.00 Pee Tear, 
[Entered according to Act of Cotiyrana. In the year 1S8U. by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
®l)f I}rriismait. 
AYRSHIRE CATTLE. 
Of the various breeds of cattle whose merits 
for the sliambles or the dairy have won them 
popularity among English-speaking people, 
the Ayrshire is the most recent in its forma¬ 
tion. Tile present century was from ten to 
fifteen years old before the cattle of Ayrshire, 
which have since become known by the name 
of the county in which they originated, can be 
said to have possessed those distinctive char¬ 
acteristics and that power of transmitting them 
with certainty to their offsprings, which would 
entitle them to be considered a breed. The 
changes wrought in the appearance of Ayr- 
shires within the last half century, too, have 
been considerably greater than in animals of 
any other well known breed of cattle. Indeed, 
until the present or a very recent date, this 
breed may be considered to have been in a 
formative stage, or It may, perhaps, be more 
correct to say that the improvements made 
in it have been of a more radical nature 
than in any of the older breeds. As may he 
inferred from its comparatively recent forma¬ 
tion, it is pre-eminently a breeders’ breed, 
owing its origin less to environment srd more 
to cure aud judicious selectiou than does 
any other breed equally well kuown. More 
than a century ago, It is true, the rough cattle 
of Ayrshire had a local reputation for hardy 
aud deep-milking qualities; hut the meagre 
descriptions that have come down to us of the 
animals of that day, show that they have little 
else iu common with the peculiar characteris¬ 
tics that distinguish 'he Ayrshire cattle of to¬ 
day. How these have bceu inwrought into the 
breed is not clearly known: bat it is certain 
that they are due in a great measure to a judi¬ 
cious infusion of the blood of other excellent 
breeds. The West Highland cattle and the 
Jersey, Guernesy, Short horn and even the 
Holstein, are all supposed by different author¬ 
ities to have contributed by direct crosses on 
the native rough hut hardy stock, or by 
••dashes of blood," to Ihe formation ot the 
present breed, and some of the distinctive 
traits of all these breeds occasionally, by 
atavism, crop out in the modern Ayrshire 
cattle. 
Small iu size, short in the legs, excellent 
foragers, with fine, clean bones and not a 
pouud of Ruperlluous flesh about them, cows 
of this breed thrive and give large messes of 
milk where larger aud less hardy animals 
would scarcely pick up a living. But although 
the Ayrshire manages to get along compara¬ 
tively well on poor pastures aud scanty fare, 
she makes a grateful return for generous food 
aud treatment. Under such circumstances 
the records of the milk yields of cows of this 
breed compare favorably with those of any 
other, and in comparison with the amount of 
food construed, good judges, speaking from 
experience with other breeds as well, declare 
that cows of no other breed can compete in milk 
yield with these. Under the microscope this 
milk Is found to be rich in caseine and the cream 
globules are numerous but very unequal in 
size. This is generally held to be a defect of 
the Ayrshire as a butter cow, on the ground 
that cream does not rise well when the glob¬ 
ules vary in size, nor is all the butter got 
out of it without skillful churning. Both here 
aud in Great Britain, however, Ayrshires have 
made a multitude of excellent records as but¬ 
ter cows, although, it is true, their reputation 
for cheese is still higher. 
When in milk the Ayrshire is an excellent 
machine for converting all her food beyond 
the economical requirements of her system, 
Into milk. She lays on little or no flesh ; all 
that goes into the mouth, beyond what is need¬ 
ed to run the machine, is poured into the milk 
pail. When dry, however, and well fed, she 
reudlly takes on flesh of an excellent quality 
in which fat and lean are much more evenly 
intermingled than is generally the ease in 
the distinctively butchers' breeds. Although 
the meat is not laid on so heavily in prime 
parts as in the Hereford or Short-horn, 
yet it always brings a good price, and as a 
rule, the carcass weighs considerably more 
than the appearance of the live beast would 
indicate. 
The favorite color of Ayrshires is a light 
brown or brown and white, though red and 
white Is the most common. There are also 
among them a considerable number red, or 
mostly red, some white and red, a few flecked ; 
anu, and then, a black and white or even 
a pure white is seen. The colors rarely min¬ 
gle together, the line of separation being gen¬ 
erally quite distinct. Dark red or black noses 
are the favorites; but a white nose Is not 
looked upon as a drawback. The udder, the 
great point of the Ayrshire, should reach well 
forward and be firmly attached up to the body - 
not come out behind or hang down loosely.’ 
The quarters should be alike in size and the 
teats be set on widely and equally apart, not 
hanging together under a loose, flabby bag. 
The head is preferably short; the forehead 
wide; the eyes full and lively the horns set 
on wide, inclining upwards and curving slight¬ 
ly in Wirds; the neck long and straight from 
the head to the top of the shoulder, free from 
loose skin on the under side, fine at its junc¬ 
ture with the head, the muscles enlarging 
towards the shoulder ; fore quarters thin in 
front, generally increasing in depth and thick¬ 
ness backwards : skin, soft aud elastic ; gener¬ 
al form of body, when viewed from the side, 
wedge-shape. This peculiar wedge-shape form 
is due less to deficiency forward than to the 
large bulk of carcass aft. 
Any faults ? Yes ; what is there wholly 
free from them in this sublunary world ? 
The teats of young Ayrshire cows are, as a 
rule, inconveniently short; but with careful 
milking they become quite long enough after 
the cow has had a couple of calves. An un- 
amiable trait common to them and their possi¬ 
ble West Highland kindred, is a sleepless 
pugnacity of disposition towards each other. 
Although bred together, Ayrshires are always 
ready to rip up or gore each other when a good 
chance presents itself, and to prevent injury 
from this fault, It is advisable to screw wooden 
or metal knobs on their sharp-pointed horns. 
The accompanying cut has been redrawn 
from a group of Ayrshires in Professor J. P. 
Sheldon’s Dairy Farming, an admirable work 
which every farmer should possess. 
GROUP OF AYRSHIRE CATTL1 .—Fig. 88. 
