Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1877-01-04
LIV I STOCK.
AYRSHIRE CATTLE.

ular breeds of cattle at present raised in this
country or Europe. They are quite distinc'
from all others of what are termed the mid
dle-horn breed, although evidently closely
allied to them. Their origin is enveloped il
obscurity. BUTT is known that the Ayrshire,
as a distinct breed, cannot be traced back :
century.
For many years the Ayrshires were con-
sidered the best 1actifcrous breed in Great
Britain, and were exceedingly popular in
Scotland, not onlyin Ayrshire but in Rem
frewshire, ~Sterlingshire and the surrounding
country. The dairymen of the regions
where this breed first made its appearance
are said to have guarded them with jealous
care and sedulously appropriated them to
dairy purposes. Like all the more valuable
butter breeds the Ayrshires are not S 0 prof
table for the SHAMELESS as the S%horthorns,
although the beef is of good quality, pos
sessing a fine admixture of fat and lean, still
there are other breeds which rank higher
for the value of their flesh.
The merits of the Ayrshires may be brief
ly summed up as follows: They are well
adapted to billy regions, being of moderate
size and sure-footed, therefore they can OBJ
tain forage where a more bulky breed would
fail to procure food in sufficient quantities
to keep in flesh. They are also very indus
trious in seeking their food, taking that
which some other breeds would reject and
feeding while Others would be sleeping.
They are excellent for milk and some of the
largest milk and butter yields on record in
this country were from Ayrshire cows. We
note a few as examples of what the Ayr
shire COW will do under favorable circum-
stances.
Lady Kilburnie, an Ayrshire COW owned
by. the Sturtevant Brothers, Pennington
Massachusetts, is reported to have given in
one year 1920 pounds of milk, equal to 1856
quarts. Her weight was $50 pounds. Geor-
gfa, a cow owned by the same parties, and
weighing 800 pounds. has given 1927 pounds
Of milk in a year. A. A. Moore of East
Berkshire, Vt, a few years since, reported
that he had a cow three-fourths Durham
and one-fourth Ayrshire, which gave GO
pounds of milk per.day, and from which he
matle 16 pounds Of butter in q week. The
Ayrshire COW, Sybil, according to Flint's
abstract report, 1874, gave in one year 49,
065 pounds of milk. Jean Amour, another
noted Ayrshire COW, weighing 967 pounds,
Is reported to have averaged fifty-two
pounds of milk during ten days in June,
yielding l43 pounds OF butter per week.
Large as the above yields may appear
they have been excelled in this country and
in Great Britain, but those named are fully
sufficient to show the capabilities or value
of the Ayrshires for dairy purposes.
The back Of pure Ayrshire cattle is
straight and nearly level, yet has a slight
depression at the top Of the shoulder, and a
slight tendency to another over the loins;
the. ribs are pretty round the sides deep and
sometimes showing a slight deficiency in
the filling up of the bullock. The breast in
front is comparatively narrow; the upper
surface of the carcass shows less breadth at
the shoulder than at the back, showing a
kind of wedged-shaped outline. The length
Of the body is proportionately greater than
the height; the legs comparatively short !;
the .muzzle is fine; the face broad but rath-
er short; the eye is complacent the ex-
preston Of the face is gentle but dull; the
horns short and turned up the skin smooth
and thin calors are red and white, like
those Of the Shorthorn, but usually lack the
rich hue. They are sometimes mixed with
BLACK, and are always arranged in patches
which are generally irregular in form.
JUST as We finished the above sentence, a
farper who formerly kept fifty cows on his