1038 
hlii>«.0«il>»UI' -0, 
with spots or splashes of the same on a white back¬ 
ground, but the outline always well defined. Some¬ 
times the Ayrshire is nearly altogether a creamy 
white, but with points indicating the basic color. 
She weighs about a thousand, pounds, and has a 
good beef residue. Altogether she is highly tem¬ 
peramental, motherly, milky and productive look¬ 
ing. And it is for these points she lias been bred in 
this country and in her ancient home, the county of 
Ayrshire, Scotland, and adjoining territory. The 
country of her birth has long been famous for “coo" 
and cheese. The county of Ayr runs along the south¬ 
western coast for 70 miles, being washed by the 
waters of the Atlantic, which makes the climate hu¬ 
mid and liable to heavy deluges of rain. The cli¬ 
mate, besides, is not all too favorable, though in some 
more favored spots it might bo termed mild, yet on 
the uplands it is stormy, often even tempestuous. 
The soil is clayey, moorish and generally poor. The 
surface of the general run of the farms is broken 
with the rocks peeping out. But the grass is always 
fresh, if not so nutritious as in other more fertile 
lands. Under these rather strenuous conditions, the 
indigenous cow emerged with the apparent makings 
of a good profit-creating disposition, and the fann¬ 
ers were not slow to take advantage of this home- 
product. The early improvers went about their im¬ 
provement in a practical manner, they introduced 
some well-bred Teeswaters, and other desirable 
strains from the north of Ungland; and even, it is 
believed, from tin* Channel Isles, with dashes of 
other kinds, such as possibly that elusive type, “the 
Holland.” The breed was first brought to perfection 
in the parish of Dunlop, on the estate of that name, 
owned by a family similarly designated. By 1811 
the native, indigenous breed of the county had be¬ 
come improved in size, shape and qualities, by 
judicious selection, cross-coupling and feeding; with 
the expenditure of much judgment and attention, 
by the industrious natives of the county. The com¬ 
mencement of the breeding era dates back to the 
middle of the eighteenth century, and Sir Walter 
Scott mentions Jennie Deans as having bad a prom¬ 
ise from the Duke of Argyll, to “give me twa Devon¬ 
shire kye of which he is anamoured, altho’ I do still 
baud by the real hawkit Ayrshire breed.” And 
Jennie, sonsie lass liersel’, wool kenned the sort! 
Among the methods of improvement adopted was 
one that looked to the establishment of a cheese¬ 
making prestige for the breed. About 1855 the 
breeders secured a competent dairyman and his 
wife from the Cheddar district of England to per¬ 
fect them in producing cheese of that particular 
“brand,” and they were so successful that the Ayr¬ 
shire variety is now regarded as superior even to 
the original. With the rise of the county as a 
cheese-producer, the Kilmarnock Cheese Show is 
known as one of the chief expositions of the kind 
in the kingdom. The breeders were also among the 
first to appreciate the real value of milk and butter 
tests; and their efforts led to the whole system be¬ 
ing taken in band for earnest development by the 
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 
which in 1903, undertook to .give official recognition 
and management of these tests, now conducted at 
the great Dairy Show at Ayr, in April. 
Thus everything has been done by the breeders 
to enhance the fame as well as merits of their 
breed; and the result was soon apparent in the call 
made for specimens from all over England, a demand 
that spread to the Continent, and also America, and 
Australia. Sweden has been a great importer of 
Ayrshires, and the national show held at Norrlop- 
ing, near Stockholm, in 190(5, is memorable as hav¬ 
ing brought, out a show of Ayrshires that was the 
largest of any of the sections exhibited. Thus, from 
its intrinsic merits, the breed commended itself to 
farmers in the United States, and we find that as 
early as 1820, specimens had been brought over, 
since which time the breed lias increased in num¬ 
bers and note, until now it is one of the sights of 
the State fairs where dairy breeds congregate! The 
Ayrshire Breeders’ Association has been active, and 
even aggressive, in promoting Improvement in the 
qualities of the breed, and its milking tests have 
been rigid and of benefit to the breeders. The asso¬ 
ciation has also established an excellent system of 
advanced registry, of monthly tests at the form of 
the owner, under the supervision of the Experiment 
Station of the State wherein the herd is located. 
The results of these tests have been to eliminate the 
least profitable cows, and to concentrate tin* atten¬ 
tion of the breeder upon the perpetuation of off¬ 
spring from the most efficient specimens. When the 
association started the 10,000 pound cow was a phe¬ 
nomenon; now such a record attracts little attention 
—the eye being continually set oil the 20,000 mark; 
the breed having produced many cows with that 
record to its credit. The results of these advanced 
registry tests lip till March of the present year show 
'r I TK KURAIv N K W-YORK fcCFt 
that the avrraffe of the total cows and heifers en¬ 
tered reached 9,222 pounds of milk, with 302.23 
pound fat, and 420 of butter—3.92 per cent fat. And, 
up till June 5 last, the average of the whole bad risen 
to 10,590 pounds milk; 418.35 pounds fat, 492 pounds 
butter—and 3.95 per cent fat. One mature cow has 
given 22,10(5 pounds milk, with the highest record 
of 1,0-1 <5 pounds butter. The record for the highest 
per cent fat belongs to a three-year-old cow with a 
record of 1.39 per cent fat. 
The following are statements of profit earnings of 
several authenticated instances: A three-year-old 
made a net profit on food consumed during the year 
of $198.12; a two-three-year-old, in a two-year test 
made a profit of $258.25; and a five-year old, $130.32. 
The cost of the food and care for these was remark¬ 
ably small, far below what cows of other breeds 
would require, to return the same profit. The breed 
is largely devoted to the production of cream, which 
is smooth and well adapted for table use; and also 
proves well adapted for ice-cream making purposes. 
The milk is rich in solids and forms a “complete 
food” especially for infants and invalids, being abso¬ 
lutely wholesome, and containing Ihe elements of 
bone and muscle in abundance. The milk stands 
transportation well, and thus the Ayrshire is a 
“milkman’s cow,” and in the opinion of her admirers 
the “perfect cow.” 
In proportion to the cost of her keep, the quality 
and quantity of the milk of an Ayrshire is almost 
unrivalled. She is no less a persistent eater, but a 
persistent milker—“she is always either eating or 
chewing.” She is the embodiment of the kind long 
honored with the title “mortgage lifter.” A herd of 
sonsie broekies, sprightly and varied in color, is not 
only an idyllic adjunct to a landscape, but indicates 
that wherever-they are found, there is comfort and 
prosperity. Let us then take our huts off to a good 
Ayrshire “coo"—she deserves our patriotic homage. 
_R. C. AULD. 
TESTING FERTILIZING CHEMICALS FOR 
GRASS. 
A great many farmers are making inquiry as to 
means of supplementing the farm manures in the 
way of chemical fertilizers. With the present day 
management of farms very few supply all tin* ma¬ 
nure needed in keeping the land' in good productive 
condition. IIow to obtain a good and practical chem¬ 
ical fertilizer at moderate cost is here shown from 
extensive experiments conducted in the hay dis¬ 
tricts of Jefferson County, N. Y., under the direction 
of the county farm bureau, with Mr. F. E. Rouen 
son in charge of many of the demonstrations. The 
fertilizer experiment here described was carried on 
at the farm of M. W. Casse, of Philadelphia, N. Y. 
It more than doubled the crop of bay. The follow¬ 
ing is the mixture used per acre: Nitrate of soda, 
200 pounds, acid rock phosphate, 100 pounds, muri¬ 
ate of potash, 50 pounds. The mixture was sown 
broadcast early in the Spring. Mr. Casse applied 
about 300 pounds of the mixture on the equivalent 
of one aci*e of three-year-old meadow land where 
the grass was starving for lack of nourishment. It. 
had only been applied a iew days when results be¬ 
came noticeable. 
A test of the difference of fertilized and unferti¬ 
lized areas was made July 14th. Plots of one-for¬ 
tieth of an acre were measured off under both con¬ 
ditions, and the amount of field-cured hay deter¬ 
mined with tin* following results: 
Weight of field cured plot. 122 lbs. 48 lbs. 
Weight per acre.4880 lbs. 1920 lbs. 
Difference in acre.29(50 lbs. 
Value at $12 per ton.$12.1(5 
Cost of 300 lbs fertilizer. $(5.00 
Returns above cost of fertilizer.. .$11.76 per acre 
The increase in hay yield amounted to nearly one 
and a half tons on an outlay of $6 for fertilizer. 
And this only marks the first lap of the experiment 
on a field where the grass was about ready to suc¬ 
cumb. The same plot yields will be weighed again 
next year, covering the fertilized and unfertilized 
areas. On four one-acre plots owned by Itolln Van 
Doren, of Chaumont, this mixture was applied at a 
cost of $29.(58, or $7.42 per acre. The bay yield was 
27,348 pounds, as against a yield of 10,768 pounds 
for an equal area unfertilized, making an increase 
Of*over five and a half tons on the four acres. When 
the discussions were being held a number^ of farm¬ 
ers agreed to give the experiment a try-out, and 
many soon procured the ingredients of the mixture. 
The time required to apply the fertilizer is only 
about one hour to the acre. Alt the plots under 
experiment this year will be reweighed as to yield 
next season in order to determine the residual effect, 
on the succeeding crop. a. ii. r. 
KHARKOV WHEAT FOR IOWA. 
Here in the West extremely hardy wheat is neces¬ 
sary. This kind is about the same grade of hardi¬ 
ness as Winter rye. This is so over wide areas in 
the West. But I do not wish to give out any extrav¬ 
agant claims as to yield; it will, however, in the 
rich Botna valleys of Western Iowa, yield from 23 
to 45 bushels per acre. This is not a wheat country, 
nor wheat soil. It is strictly a corn soil, and the 
soil is peculiar. On rich bottom lands that are in 
prime condition, and in a favorable year, it will 
yield over 40 bushels, but the average here is around 
30 to 33 bushels, somewhat better than ordinary 
Spring wheat. Upon uplands it gives from 20 to 28 
bushels per acre. This is with ordinary farm man¬ 
agement and in general farm operations, and by 
usual methods of farm work here. Under special 
methods I think the yield could be increased favor 
able seasons, but weather conditions are freaky, and 
this climate subject to extremes, and it is not so 
certain a crop as corn that about every year turns 
up a good crop, failing but once in 30 years in the 
writer’s locality. Even this year, without a drop of 
rain from May 31 to August 9, when we had a two- 
inch rain, we shall have a good crop. 
The real advantage of Fall wheat (and we must 
raise some for rotation) over Spring wheat is that 
it can be sown early enough to get the Fall rains 
and get a Fall and late Winter growth and an early 
Spring growth resultant from Winter moisture be¬ 
fore our Summer drought, and complete Its growth 
and maturity during the rainless period, being har¬ 
vested and thrashed in (he open without any rains 
or loss. Many farmers here sow it in corn in Sep 
(ember and start it early, harrowing it in with 
one-horse tools, and then get strong Fall growth; 
husk off the corn, halving the stalks to stand. They 
pasture the stalks down over the wheat, and get 
early pasture from stalks and late green pasture 
from wheat; green feed into early Winter. 
'Phis wheat will stand pasturing in the Spring, 
and in fact we find neighbors here who think they 
improve it by pasturing it and get a better stealing 
and stand. II is like rye; it will stand lots of rough 
usage in this manner, and it is a fine nurse crop 
for legumes. But all other Winter wheats over 
large areas in the West are not hardy, and only 
occasionally go through Winter when a heavy blan 
ket of snow lies all the season, a very unusual 
thing, as if we have snow the winds move it con 
stoutly. Much country is bare, and much piled with 
drifts, and at times there is but little snow covering 
or none, which kills all the Winter wheat, and this 
sort has stood here the test us no other lias. 
Southwestern Iowa. w, M. n. 
