Vol. LVII. No. 2536. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 3, 1898. 
SI PER YEAR. 
THE AYRSHIRE COW. 
SUMMARY OF HER GOOD POINTS. 
A Good Bull of the Breed. 
In Tiik R. N.-Y. of July 30, you state that there 
seems to be something' the matter with Ayrshire 
breeders, as you have written 25 of them, asking why 
the Ayrshire cattle are to be preferred to others, and 
under what circumstances they would be most likely 
to give best results, yet only two have replied. Yes, 
there is something wrong, and as soon as the breeders 
get that hay and grain under cover, I dare say they 
will write things up. 
The Ayrshire s have more good qualities than any of 
the other dairy breeds. Having been bred and reared 
on the hills of Scotland in a climate much like our 
own, they are adapted to this country. Being ex¬ 
tremely hardy, they are not affected by climatic 
changes, different methods of care and feed, as are 
most other dairy breeds. They are wonderful for¬ 
agers, and especially adapted to convert into milk the 
elements of food. They are 
wonderful milkers, very per¬ 
sistent, the milk is of good qual¬ 
ity. They are extremely regular 
breeders, becoming fresh when 
20 to 24 months of age, and 
continue to give good returns 
until well into their teens. I 
have retained several in milk 
until 17 or 18 years old, and 
then sold them to the butcher. 
I do not know of any other 
breed that will take on flesh as 
rapidly or make as choice beef 
as the Ayrshire. Combining 
the above facts, I prefer the 
Ayrshires to other breeds. 
Under good circumstances, 
they are equal to the best, 
while under less favorable 
circumstances, they stand at 
the head of all dairy breeds. 
Better to illustrate, I send 
some facts about my Ayrshire 
bull Britomart 5348, shown at 
Fig. 280. Here is a list of a 
few cows related to him with 
records of 400 pounds of butter 
or over. I would like the 
opinion of readers about this 
bull. How does he compare 
with the bulls of the Jersey 
or other milk breeds ? I f he isn’t their equal, why not ? 
Milk. Butter. 
Lbs. Lbs. 
Rena Myrtle, full sister to sire of Britomart 5348_12,172 546 
Rose Clenna, half-sister to Britomart 5348 . 7,768 454 
Rose Electa, half-sister to Bi itomart 5348.10,207 467 
Rose Deross, half-sister to Britomart 5348. 9,333 491 
Rose Veritas, half-sister to Britomart 5348 . 7,082 404 
Rose Ladye, half-sister to Britomart 5348. 8,J94 463 
Myrtle Dell, grandam of Britomart 5348. 8,068 
Duchess of Smithfield, g. g. dam of Britomart 5348.. 10,748 *19.6 
Rubekah, dam of Britomart 5348. 8,338 347 
Rosa, grandam of Britomart 5348 . 7,562 *14.14 
Rose, great grandam of Britomart 5348. *399 
Ruth, full sister to dam of Britomart 5348.10,219 425 
*In seven days. 
Records of Rubekah, Rosa and Ruth were made by 
churn test. f. m. babcock. 
Gouverneur, N. Y. 
What To Do With the Bull. 
To maltreat a bull, and make him fear one through 
fear of physical suffering, is only to develop in the 
animal the traits which should be left wholly latent. 
In our dairying, the breeding season is in the Winter, 
the cows are pretty closely housed, and there is little 
danger; but with the advent of the pasturage sea¬ 
son, we solve the problem by putting a heavy halter, 
with a stout leather hood affixed, on the bull, sprung 
so that he can see only the ground at his feet, and 
then let him run with the herd. He is now wholly 
devoid of conceit, he follows the herd, stays at home, 
and is perfectly under the power of the master. Where 
there can be no employment given him, I know of no 
better way to solve this problem. 
While in southern Ohio not long since, I saw two 
Jersey bulls utilized as the propelling power in a 
creamery with which to run the separators. A build¬ 
ing had been erected at some distance from the cream¬ 
ery in which there was a level-step tread power, with 
connecting shaft with the distant separator, and in 
addition to separating about 3,000 pounds of milk each 
morning, an endless-chain attachment connected with 
a deep-well pump, and while cream separating was 
going on, about 40 barrels of water were pumped in 
addition. One of the bulls was 11 years old, and he 
had been walking here daily from one to three hours 
since he was a two-year-old. His companion was 
three, and they pulled an even gait and said nothing, 
though the old one seemed to keep up a great think¬ 
ing about the march of events in modern dairy 
THE AYRSHIRE BULL BRITOMART 5348. Fig. 280. 
method. It was related of this old Don, that after 
awhile, he studied out several ways to bring his work 
to a speedy adjournment. The first was sagging back 
against the cross-bar, but a few sharp spikes cured 
that. Then he thought that, if he walked fast, he 
could get his feet against the up-coming tread plank, 
and this would balance the up-coming and down¬ 
going power, which was a success. This was pre¬ 
vented, and then the old Don discovered that the 
power could be easily stopped by leaning his head 
over the side of the power, and using his right horn 
as a friction break on the main belt, which choked 
down the machine at once. All of which is an illustra¬ 
tion of the intelligence of our high-bred animals, as 
none of these instances can be accounted for on the 
jilea of instinct; they had to be reasoned out, and 
were repeated again and again, until the owner out- 
reasoned him. 
The younger bull will, while on the power, rest him¬ 
self by fast walking until he reaches the very top, 
and then “ rides down ” as far as his halter will let 
him ; then he will commence the climb again. In the 
nine years this old bull—with different mates—has 
taken the place of a creamery engine, and supplied 
even, reliable power, his service as sire has been 
wholly satisfactory, and his calves are as lively and 
vigorous as calves can be. In all these years, not a 
sign of viciousness or treachery has been observed in 
him, showing that useful occupation is what these 
sires need, and not brutality. Where their surplus 
energy can be turned into labor, their powers as 
breeders are not impaired, but rather intensified and 
prolonged, and their offspring are benefited by the 
influence of a sire that had healthy exercise to keep 
all his muscular powers in constant use. j. g. 
Ohio. 
A SOUTHERN MILK DAIRY. 
One of our readers is at present working on a milk 
dairy which supplies the city of Atlanta, Ga. He has 
been reading about some of our northern dairies, and 
wants to tell us how such things are done in the 
South. He says that Atlanta is supplied with dairy 
produce by 900 registered milkmen, who run 1,300 
wagons. The inspectors require 12 per cent of total 
solids. Sweet milk retails at 
25 cents a gallon or 15 to 20 
cents at wholesale. Cream is 
25 cents a quart, butter 10 to 
25 cents a pound. On this 
dairy, 40 cows are stabled 
twice a day and grazed in the 
woods morning and afternoon 
for about three hours; then 
two hands watch the herd 
with whips. “ The cows al¬ 
ways seem hungry.” They 
are fed in the barn from one 
pint to one gallon of bran, and 
one quart of cotton-seed meal. 
The best milkers give six 
quarts at a time; 10 of the 
poorest give hardly four 
quarts between them. They 
grade from pedigreed Jerseys 
to scrubs. 
Five hands are hired to milk, 
but one or two are often ab¬ 
sent when wanted. One man 
and two delivery boys bottle 
the milk; the milkers empty 
their buckets into four-gallon 
cans which are carried up¬ 
stairs, where the milk is 
strained through two cloths 
into a 10-gallon can. From 
this the milk is run over a 
Star cooler to another 10-gallon can, covered with two 
straining cloths. It is then put into glass bottles. 
Two wagons with a man and a boy on each deliver 
this milk in the city, four miles away. The milking 
is done at 2 A. m. and 2 p. M. The kicking cows are 
curried with a heavy milk stool, and encouraged with 
shouts to let down their milk. All cows but one are 
dishorned and tied around the neck by a rope. One 
breachy cow wears a halter, and three which slip 
their ropes are often tied by the fore foot. The bull 
runs with the cows. As a rule, the calves are weak 
and do not receive good treatment. Many of them 
die before they can get a fair start. 
In Winter, these cows are fed on cotton hulls. Two 
hogs are kept on the place, five horses and a mule. 
The hands get 50 cents a day without board for 16 
hours’ work. The owner of the farm controls 1,600 
acres of land, but has really no good pasture or well- 
tilled land on the place. The hands are permitted to 
smoke in the barn and milk-room, and some of the 
cows are unquestionably abused. Some of the dairies 
are better managed than this one, and have silos and 
quiet milkers ; but many are like this one and, natu¬ 
rally, profits are small. 
