AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
93 
1874] 
The Shetland Pony. 
The pair of Shetland ponies whose portraits 
we here give is part of a herd which was re¬ 
cently imported from the Shetland Islands by 
Mr. John G. Correy, of Suisun City, California. 
These islands are 
a small, rocky 
group, situated 
north of Scotland 
in the stormy 
North Atlantic 
Ocean. The fierce 
north winds sweep 
over them carry¬ 
ing the spray from 
the waves which 
wash their precip¬ 
itous shores. As 
may he expected, 
therefore, the 
herbage of these 
islands is scant 
and coarse, al¬ 
though sweet and 
nutritious. These 
diminutive horses, 
never more than 
forty inches in 
bight, and which 
feed in a semi¬ 
wild state upon 
these exposed, 
bleak pastures, 
are fitted by nature for their peculiarly 
hard life, and possess exceedingly tough 
constitutions, a good deal of endurance and 
spirit, and are very docile. Formerly these 
animals possessed but little value, and were in 
very moderate demand as pets for children. 
But some years since the English Parliament 
prohibited the labor of women and children in 
coal-mines, and these small, hardy creatures 
were substituted, and used to draw the cars of 
coal along the narrow, low-roofed, dark under¬ 
ground passages. 
Their value imme¬ 
diately increased, 
and their breed¬ 
ing became an es¬ 
tablished business. 
A largely increas¬ 
ing demand for 
them now exists, 
both for this spe¬ 
cial purpose and 
for the use of chil¬ 
dren. Their ex¬ 
treme docility and 
diminutive beauty 
expressly fit them 
to be children’s 
pets. The animals 
pictured above 
were prize-takers 
at the last exhibi¬ 
tion at Lerwick, 
the chief town of 
the Shetland Is¬ 
lands, and the stal¬ 
lion is the winner 
of several first 
prizes. It is very probable that these hardy 
animals may find a place in the mines of 
the far West similar to that which they fill 
in the Welsh coal mines; but if not, there 
is already a large demand for them in this 
country for children’s use, and they will 
certainly find a congenial home upon the hills 
of California. We understand that Mr. Correy 
was successful in getting his herd of over 30 
animals home from their long journey of nearly 
7,000 miles with a loss of only two, and that 
his enterprise has been rewarded with the pro- 
PAIB OF IMPORTED SHETLAND PONIES. 
This fact shows to a great extent the extreme 
hardiness of these animals under exposure. 
-«•-.-—-*-•- 
Ayrshire Cow—'* Old Creamer.” 
The portrait of Old Creamer is taken from a 
photograph for which we are indebted to her 
owner, S. D. Hungerford, of Adams, Jefferson 
Co., N. Y. This cow was exhibited at the New 
York State Fair in 1873, where she took , the 
first prize as the best milk cow of any breed. 
She is an Ayrshire, nine years old, weighs 1,080 
pounds, and is claimed to be the champion cow 
of the world. This is an extensive claim, but 
would seem to have some foundation when we 
learn that this cow in three days in June last 
gave 302 lbs. of milk, or 135 quarts—an average 
of 45 quarts a day. Her average for the whole 
month of June was over 94 lbs. per day, for 
July 80 lbs., and for August 74 lbs. In eleven 
days in June she gave more than her own 
weight of milk. The performance of this cow, 
as well as that of Beacon Belle, another Ayr¬ 
shire, whose por¬ 
trait was engraved 
in the Agricultur¬ 
ist of November, 
1873, shows in a 
very striking man¬ 
ner the value of 
the Ayrshires for 
the dairy. This 
breed having been 
subjected for 
many years past 
to very careful 
training and selec¬ 
tion for that ex¬ 
press purpose, is 
now without a 
rival for quantity 
of milk, while for 
excellence of qual¬ 
ity it has but two 
superiors — viz., 
the Jersey with 
the Guernsey, and 
the Devon, these, 
however, being 
less productive in 
quantity. For the 
cheese dairy this breed is the most profit¬ 
able, and a singular fact recently made 
known by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant of Massachu¬ 
setts goes to add much to its value. This 
fact, which has become known through 
much careful investigation by Dr. Sturtevant, 
is that the milk of the Ayrshire cow contains 
its cream in very small globules, which are 
separated from the milk only with extreme 
slowness and difficulty. In making cheese from 
Ayrshire milk, therefore, the cream remains in 
the curd, adding 
much to its rich¬ 
ness, and is not 
lost in the whey. 
The skimmed milk 
of the Ayrshire 
cow is therefore 
of equal value for 
chee s e - m a k i n g 
with the whole 
milk of cows of 
other breeds, the 
cream from which 
rises and separates 
very readily and 
rapidly. The 
cream from Jersey 
milk exists in 
large globules, 
which separate 
very quickly and 
completely from 
the milk, leaving 
a blue, poor liquid, 
quite unfit for the 
making of cheese. 
Jersey milk is 
therefore only adapted for butter-making, 
while Ayrshire milk is well adapted for 
either whole cheese manufacture or partly 
butter and partly cheese-making. The Ayr¬ 
shire cow therefore holds a place in the dairy 
in which she can never suffer in competition 
with any cow of any other breed whatsoever. 
Stable disposal of nearly the whole of them. 
