26 
THE OX. 
THE AYRSHIRE BREED. 
Husbandry of Ayrshire in 1825, describes them, from bis own recollection, as having been a puny unshapely race, not superior to 
those yet met with in many of the higher districts. They were mostly, he tells us, of a black colour, marked with white on the 
face, the back, and the flanks, and few of the Cows yielded more than from one and a half to two gallons of milk in the day, at 
the height of the season, or weighed, when fat, more than 20 stones. But previous to the period referred to, cattle of other 
races had been mingled in blood with the native Ayrshire. It is stated, on competent authority, that even so early as the middle 
of the century, the Earl of Marchmont had brought, from his estates in Berwickshire, a bull and several cows which he had 
procured from the Bishop of Durham, of the Teeswater Breed, then known by the name of the Holstein or Dutch Breed; and 
mention is made of other proprietors who brought to their parks foreign Cows apparently of the same race. To what degree these 
casual importations affected the native breed of Ayrshire is not certainly known; but tradition refers likewise to an early impor¬ 
tation 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 Alderney 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 
mixed with that of the other. There is the same peculiar character of the horns and colour of the skin; and the general 
resemblance of the form is so great, that in many cases a Jersey Cow might be mistaken for an Ayrshire one. We may assume, 
then, from all the evidence which, in the absence of authentic documents, the case admits of, that the Dairy Breed of Ayrshire 
owes the characters which distinguish it from the older race, to a mixture with the blood of races of the Continent, and of the 
Dairy Breed of Alderney. 
The modern Ayrshire may stand in the fifth or sixth class of British Breeds with respect to size. The horns are small, and 
curving inwards at the extremity after the manner of the Alderneys. The shoulders are light, and the loins very broad and deep, 
which is a conformation almost always accompanying the property of yielding abundant milk. The skin is moderately soft to the 
touch, and of an orange-yellow tinge, which appears about the eyes and on the mammae. The prevailing colour is a reddish-brown, 
mixed more or less with white. The muzzle is usually dark, though often it is flesh-coloured. The limbs are slender, the neck 
small, and the head free from coarseness. The muscles of the inner side of the thigh, technically called the twist, are thin ; and 
the haunch frequently droops much to the rump, a character which exists likewise in the Alderney Breed, and which, although it 
impairs the symmetry of the animal, is not regarded as inconsistent with the faculty of secreting milk. The udders are mode¬ 
rately large, without being flaccid. The cows are very docile and gentle, and hardy to the degree of bearing to subsist on oidinaiy 
food. They give a large quantity of milk in proportion to their size and the meat consumed, and this milk is of excellent quality. 
Healthy cows, on good pastures, will give from 800 to 900 gallons in the year, although, taking into account the youngei and 
less productive stock, 600 gallons may be regarded as a fair average for the low country, and somewhat less for a dairy-stock in 
the higher. 
Few of the steers of this breed are reared for grazing, and the male sucking calves are sold to the butchers either when young, 
or when fed with milk for a longer or shorter time. The cows, when they become dry, fatten quickly, which is a piopeity com¬ 
mon to all good milch-cows. But the value of the breed is to be estimated solely by its adaptation to the uses of the daily. 
The attention of breeders having been directed exclusively to this end, the animals have acquired, in an eminent degiee, the pio- 
perties sought for, and their external form accords with that which indicates this faculty, and not with that which shows a dis¬ 
position to arrive at early maturity of muscle and fatness. Those, therefore, who suppose that the Ayrshire Bleed combines the 
properties of a dairy and grazing stock, entirely mistake its distinctive characters. It stands in the first class as a daii) stock, but 
occupies an inferior place as one to be reared for fattening. 
The Ayrshire Breed has long been extended from its native districts to all the neighbouring counties where the regular daiiv 
is established. It now forms the prevailing stock of Renfrew, Dumbarton, Stirling, and Lanark, and it has extended into the 
shires of Dumfries, Wigton, and Kirkcudbright. It has been carried into England, where, however, it has never arrived at the 
estimation which it possesses in its native pastures. All cows succeed best in the places where they have been reaied, and those 
of Ayrshire appear to have the peculiarity of tending too much to fatten, with a corresponding diminution of milk, when they ar e 
transported to richer herbage than is natural to them. They have been tried in the great dairy establishments of London, but 
have always been relinquished in favour of the Yorkshire and larger breeds. 
Some breeders in Ayrshire have begun to cross the breed with the Short-horns. This may suit the pui poses of particulai 
breeders, because the first crosses will always be superior to the native stock in size, form, and grazing qualities, and scaice mfeiioi 
to it for the production of milk; but the practice cannot benefit the general breed, now so uniform in its chaiacteis, and so well 
suited to the husbandry of the country. The true method of improving it, is to preserve it in the puiity which it has acquired, 
and to adopt such modes of treatment and feeding as shall conduce to the further development of its pioperties and fonn. The 
Ayrshire Breed has been nearly doubled in weight, with a great increase in its power of yielding milk, within the piesent centuiy; 
and with the further progress of cultivation its improvement cannot but be progressive. 
