NEW 
“ TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND MIND.” 
SERIES. 
Vol. y. 
ALBANY, FEBRUARY, 1848. 
No. 2. 
OUR PLATE—AYRSHIRE CATTLE. 
The principal design of our plate, is to furnish a 
portrait of the imported Ayrshire cow Ayr, (on the 
left,) but in order to convey an idea of her size, her 
figure is accompanied by that of a medium-sized Dur¬ 
ham cow, Charlotte —the proportions corresponding 
to the relative size of the animals; both of which are 
the property of E. P. Prentice, Esq., of Mount Hope, 
near Albany. 
Ayr , whose likeness has been very accurately delin¬ 
eated by Mr. Van Zandt, is nine years old, and was 
imported in 1842. She is nearly a model of what, in 
our opinion, a dairy cow should be, and on this account 
we deem it proper to give a tolerably full description 
of her. She possesses in a high degree the excellent 
milking properties which distinguish the best of the 
breed to which she belongs, united to a more perfect 
symmetry than we have ever seen in any other Ayr¬ 
shire, and which we have seldom, if ever, known 
equalled in any breed. Her body, (as will be seen by 
a comparison of the figures,) is small; but her frame 
or bone is proportionately less. The head is small, the 
face dished, the forehead broad, and the eye promi¬ 
nent. The neck is small at the junction of the head, 
but pretty deep and full at its connection with the body. 
The back is straight, the crops fine, the ribs, round, the 
loins broad, the flanks deep, the udder capacious, 
(spreading wide on the body, but not hanging low,) 
and the milk-veins large and prominent. The legs are 
small, but strong, hard and sinewy, like those of a 
deer. The great depth and length of the hindquar¬ 
ters might, from a profile view, give the idea that the 
chest was too light; but though the hind quarters are 
proportionately heaviest, (as we prefer to have them in 
a milch cow.) there is no deficiency in the fore end. 
The sternum (or breast-bone) is wide, the fore legs 
stand wide apart, the bosom is full, and the first ribs 
are particularly full and wide-spread at their junction 
with the sternum, giving a chest of great capacity for 
an animal of her size. 
As her form and general appearance indicate, she 
is healthy and hardy. Her skin is of a yellowish hue, 
mellow and^elastic; and though she does not possess 
the fattening quality in an excessive degree, or to an 
extent that would interfere with her dairy qualities, 
she thrives very rapidly when not giving milk. The 
quantity of milk she affords is, in proportion to her 
size, quite extraordinary. She has given, when on 
grass-feed only, upwards of twenty quarts (by actual 
measure) per day, and she continues in milk till near 
calving. No particular experiments have been made 
with her in regard to butter, but her milk has been as¬ 
certained to produce a large proportion of the richest 
cream. 
| Her offspring are much like herself. She has had 
four calves since she left Scotland. The first, a heifer, 
was dropped on ship-board during the passage; the 
next, a very fine bull, is now owned by Mr. J. W. 
Howes, of Montpelier,Vt.; the next a bull, now nearly 
two years old, a very superior animal, inheriting in a 
remarkable degree the characters of the dam; and the 
next a heifer, equally as fine as her other progeny, now 
about two months old. The two last, together with 
three grand-daughters of Ayr , are still in Mr. Pren¬ 
tice’s possession. 
The origin of the modern Ayrshire breed of cattle, is 
a subject on which there has, been some controversy. 
Youatt says there w ? as no such breed in Scotland a 
century ago. It is evidently an artificial variety, but, 
as Prof. Low observes, “ authentic records are want¬ 
ing to show by what progressive steps it has been 
moulded into its present form.” The same author 
states, however, that at the time he wrote, 1841, they 
had ‘'‘spread over a large tract of country, and by 
continued mixture wfith one another,” had “ acquired 
such a community of characters, as to form a distinct 
and well-defined breed.” 
“ Tradition,” he observes, “ refers to an importation 
of individuals of the Alderney breed to the parish of 
Dunlop, which became first distinguished for its cows 
and the produce of its dairy. This tradition is almost 
confirmed by the similarity existing between the Al¬ 
derney breed and the modern Ayrshire, which is so 
great as to lead us, independently of tradition, to the 
conclusion, that the blood of the one has been largely 
mingled with that of the other.” 
The improved variety of Ayrshire, w T as long known 
by the name of the “Dunlop breed,” and there is evi¬ 
dence that it was distinguished and sought after sixty 
years ago. We are informed that Robert Burns, 
when he resided on a farm at Nithsdale, in Dumfrie- 
shire, introduced this stock to that neighborhood. It 
was (or a part of it at least) presented to him by the 
proprietor of Dunlop House, whose lady, Mrs. Dun¬ 
lop, was a special friend and patron of the poet. In 
a letter dated Nov. 13, 1788, he speaks of a heifer 
wdbieh he had thus received as “ the finest quey in Ayr¬ 
shire.”* 
Youatt refers to “ Rawlin’s Cow-doctor ,” published 
at Glasgow in 1794, in which, speaking of the cattle 
of Ayrshire, it is said:—“ They have another breed, 
called the Dunlop cows, which are allowed to be the 
best race for yielding milk in Great Britain or Ireland, 
not only for large quantities, but also for richness and 
quality. It is said to be a mixture by bulls brought 
* Correspondence of Burns, Currie’s edition—page 127. 
