Ayrshire cattle

“ The breeds of dairy cattle most common in the United States and England at the present time are Ayrshire, Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Red Poll, and Shorthorns. The Ayrshires, named for the county of that name in the southwest of Scotland, are medium-sized cows, short-legged, fine-boned, and very active. The general form is the wedge shape, regarded as typical of cows of dairy excellence, and good specimens are thin when in milk. ”

“ The climate of Ayrshire is moist and mild, and the soil rich, clayey, and well adapted to pasturage, but difficult to till. The cattle are naturally hardy and active, and capable of enduring severe winters, and [17] of easily regaining condition with the return of spring and good feed. The pasture-land of the county is devoted to dairy stock,—chiefly for making butter and cheese, a small part only being used for fattening cows when too old to keep for the dairy. ”

“ All kinds of stock thrive amazingly. Cattle and sheep are fit for the butcher at all seasons; and they are never housed, either winter or summer. A married couple who came out from Scotland with us now manage a dairy of our cattle at Port Cooper; previous to emigrating, they were engaged as farm-servants in Ayrshire, where a very superior lot of the celebrated Ayrshire cattle were kept; and they assure ns that they make a larger quantity of butter and cheese during the year than they did at home from the same quantity of cows, and the quality is quite as good. ”

“ So remarkable is this fact, that all dairy farmers who have any experience on the point, agree in stating that an Ayrshire cow generally gives a larger return of milk for the food consumed than a cow of any other breed. The absolute quality may not be so great, but it is obtained at a less cost ”

“ A cow that is of a quiet and contented disposition feeds at ease, is milked with ease, and yields more than one of an opposite temperament; while, after she is past her usefulness as a milker, she will easily take on fat, and make fine beef and a good quantity of tallow, because she feeds freely, and when dry the food which went to make milk is converted into fat and flesh. But there is no breed of cows with which gentle gentleness of treatment is so indispensable as with the Ayrshire, on account of her naturally nervous temperament. ”

“ The cows are of the size of the ordinary Ayrshire stock: they invariably flee man, and seldom offer any effectual resistance to the dogs. They herd, with the young bulls and heifers, in numbers of ten to thirty, roaming more or less, but particularly attaching themselves to tussock grounds. Those who know cattle in our parks only, or even on the hills of Scotland, can form no idea of their speed and strength; and we found that it took three powerful dogs to 'moor' (as our sailors termed it) one full-grown cow. ”

“ Roughly speaking, one-fifth of the total area is under cultivation. Oats are the chief grain and turnips the chief root crop. The hill pastures are better suited to sheep than to cattle, but both flocks and herds are comparatively large. Cheviots and half-breds are preferred for the grass lands, the heathery ranges being stocked with black faced sheep. Crosses of Cheviots, black-faced and half-bred ewes with Leicestershire rams are common. The favourite breed of cattle is a cross between Ayrshires and shorthorns, the cows being Ayrshire. Many of the horses are Clydesdales bred in the county. ”

“ The cross with larger cattle and the natives of Ayrshire produced, for many years, an ugly-looking beast, and the farmers were long in finding out that they had violated one of the plain principles of breeding in coupling a large and small breed so indiscriminately together, especially in the use of bulls proportionately larger than the cows to which they were put. They did not then understand that no crosses could be made in that way to increase the size of a race, without a corresponding increase in the feed ”

“ The Ayrshire breed of cows are famous for the quantity and excellence of their milk. Great numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs are raised for the market, and the Ayrshire horse is in high repute.
Other Industries.—Ayrshire is the principal mining county in Scotland and has the second largest coalfield. There is a heavy annual output also of iron ore, pig iron and fire-clay. The chief coal districts are Ayr, Dalmellington, Patna, Maybole, Drongan, Irvine, Coylton, Stevenston, Beith, Kilwinning, Dalry, Kilbirnie, Dreghorn, Kilmarnock, Galston, Hurlford, Muirkirk, Cumnock and New Cumnock. ”

“ The Ayrshire is peculiarly adapted for the dairy, and for the abundance of its milk cannot be surpassed in its native district. In this it stands unrivalled, and there is no other breed capable of converting the produce of a poor soil into such fine butter and cheese. It is difficult to fatten, however, and its beef is of a coarse quality. We have chosen these as among the principal representative breeds of the ox species; but there are other breeds which, at all events, have a local if not a general celebrity. ”

“ But Short-horns have been so generally bred for beef qualities that the demand for them is almost exclusively on that line, and they are no longer classed as dairy cattle. Ayrshires from Scotland, Holstein-Friesians from North Holland, and Jerseys and Guernseys from the Channel Islands, are the breeds recognized as of dairy excellence, and upon which the industry mainly depends for improvement of its milch cows. ”

“ In Scotland, the calves of the Ayrshire breed, that are not wanted for keeping up the breeding or dairy stock, are either fattened for veal, or turned for beef at an early age. The larger portion, perhaps, of the males are killed for veal. In fact, in some districts, veal is an article of considerable importance, and the ability of Ayrshire cows to make fat calves is considered one of the excellencies of the breed. ”

“ All of us must have seen the beautiful cows from the Channel Islands, near the coast of France, known as Jerseys and Guernseys, often called Alderneys, now so common in our fields and which give such rich milk, from which splendid butter is made. We may also speak of the Ayrshire cow of Scotland, which is of high value to the cheese-maker. All these and other cows have been brought in numbers to this country, which has no good breeds of its own. ”

“ In a breeding-ranch country the herd would have been worked on the spot, calves roped and ironed with the brand worn by their mothers, and only the beef steers cut into a day herd, the she-stuff and all stock younger than two-year-olds [88] being allowed to scatter once more on the range. But there were no calves to brand, no she-stock on the range, for of late the cowmen of the Strip had come to follow one set rule in accord with the transition of the cow business, forming an intermediate link between the old-time cattle kings of the open range and the modern feeders of the corn belt. ”

“ The Ayrshires are the dairy breed of Scotland, where they have considerably overstepped the limits of the humid western county whence they take their name. They are usually of a white and brown colour, the patches being well defined. The neat, shapely, upstanding horns are characteristic. The Ayrshires are under medium size and move gracefully, and the females display the wedge-shape typical of dairy cows. They are a hardy breed, and, even from poor pastures, give good yields of milk, especially useful for cheese-making purposes. ”

“ A decided preference was therefore given to the improved Ayrshire breed, from seven to [21] ten years old, and from eight to twenty pounds a head. Prime young cows were too high-priced for stall feeding; old cows were generally the most profitable in the long run, especially if they were not previously in good keeping. The cows were generally bought when near calving, which prevented the barbarous practice called hafting, or allowing the milk to remain upon the cow for a considerable time before she is brought to the market. ”

“ All farmers are aware that a first-class milk cow may, by injudicious feed and treatment, especially as regards milking, become a second-class animal. Now, such a system, carried out generation after generation, must certainly degenerate a milk breed, however good their marks and quality.
“Among the Short-Horns, probably the best milkers have good escutcheons; but an Ayrshire cow, with an inferior escutcheon, might be found to give more milk than a Short-Horn with a superior escutcheon, simply because one breed has been bred especially for beef, the other especially for milk. ”

“ The leading breeders of Ayrshire, in Scotland, have followed these principles to some extent, if not to the full degree to which they should be observed. Hence, they claim a high rank for the breed in reference to general usefulness. Aiton, speaking of what the Ayrshire cow would do, says, "She yields much milk, and that of an oily or butyraceous, or caseous nature, and after she has yielded very large quantities of milk for several years, she shall be as valuable for beef as any other breed of cows known ”

“ Compared with the Jersey, its only rival as a dairy breed, the milk of the Ayrshire is much more abundant, and richer in caseine, but not so rich in oily matter, although better in this respect than the average of cows.
Experience of their qualities in this country shows that if they do not here fully sustain their reputation in Scotland, they come near to it, as near as the difference in our drier climate allows, giving more good milk upon a given amount of food than any other. Upon ordinarily fertile pastures they yield largely and prove very hardy and docile. ”

“ Variety and beauty were lent to it by an occasional knoll crowned with timber, or by numerous ferny dells and dingles. As the horsemen entered upon the chase, they observed at a short distance from them a herd of the beautiful, but fierce wild cattle, originally from Bowland Forest, and still preserved in the park. White and spangled in colour, with short sharp horns, fine eyes, and small shapely limbs, these animals were of untameable fierceness, possessed of great cunning, and ever ready to assault any one who approached them. ”

“ Capacious cow and calf stables, suitable sheds, and piggeries were designed and constructed as an example to be followed in starting an up-to-date dairy farm. A herd of dairy cows, of some of the best Ayrshire strains in Australia, was collected, as well as a fine number of Berkshire pigs, purchased from the most successful breeders and importers. Three large tub silos, capable of holding 250 tons of fodder, were erected in which to store winter-grown crops as well as the summer crops under irrigation. ”

“ Milch Cows.—When dairy-farming is conducted on pure pastures, the cows are altogether dependent upon the grasses; and in winter, the animals suffer much from scarcity of food. This is the very worst system of cow-keeping, but it is prevalent amongst many small farmers in Ireland, and is to be met with even in England and Scotland. I am strongly of opinion that it would be far more economical to keep cows (and other cattle) altogether in the house, and feed them with cut grass, than to allow them to remain out altogether in the field. ”

“ Trying to keep large animals on poor pasture produced the same effect. The results of first crosses were therefore very unsatisfactory; but gradually better feeding and a reduction in size came to their aid, while in the course of years more enlightened views of farming led to higher cultivation, and consequently to higher and better care and attention to stock. The effect of crosses with the larger Teeswater or short-horn was not so disastrous in Ayrshire as in some of the mountain breeds, whose feed was far less, while their exposure on high and short pastures was greater. ”

“ Black is not seen in a pure-bred Shorthorn. The biggest and heaviest cattle come from the beef-making breeds, and are often cross-bred. Very large or heavy beasts, if pure-bred, usually belong to one or other of the Shorthorn, Hereford, Sussex, Welsh, West Highland, Aberdeen-Angus and Galloway breeds. The Devon, Red Polled and Guernsey are medium-sized cattle; the Ayrshires are smaller, although relatively the bullocks grow larger than bulls or cows. ”

“ This is injurious in all domestic animals and fowls. Always have the cow and the bull from different regions: attention to this would constantly improve any breed we have, and by improving the size of cattle, and milking qualities of cows, would add vast amounts to the wealth of farmers, without the necessity of purchasing, at a great price, any of the high-bred cattle. We have observed, in our article on calves, that abundant feeding during the first year has much to do with the excellence of stock. ”

“ From Devil’s Tooth they came, and from Lava Bed way, and from the rough sandstone ridges of Mill Creek. Two by two the riders, mere moving dots at first against a monotone of the rangeland, took form as they neared the common center. Red cattle, black cattle, spotted and dingy white, with bandy-legged, flat-bodied calves keeping close to their mothers, kicking up their heels in sheer joy of their new life when the pace slowed a little, seeking a light lunch whenever the cows stopped to cast a wary glance back at their pursuer. ”

“ Professor Low, in his "Illustrations of British Quadrupeds," says, "From all the evidence which, in the absence of authentic documents, the case admits of, the dairy breed of Ayrshire cows, owes the characters which distinguish it from the older race, to a mixture of the blood of the races of the continent and of the dairy breed of Alderney." ”