AYRSHIRECATTLE.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 270, 6 June 1888, Page 3

AYRSHIRECATTLE .

TnK lotion in<^ is a -umm.uv >>t a paper icad b> Mi John .1 .Jeihay in February ast, before the Edinl)m^h Univcnity A<n-ieul(mc Cla^s I Ji^-ovis'-ion Hocio<V :—: —

OUKUN Ol '1 111 lilll.l 1». The oiigin of A) inline- appear to bo somewhat obscure, and of \aiiou?> thcoiii> I have .-elected tlic tuo which, I think, aic most probable. The iir.st of these holds that Ayi shires arc tho direct, descendants of the ancient wild cattle of Biitain, which had .settled in the A\ishue district, and there, under the influence of climate and selection, developed into the modem Ayrshiie. The second theoiy slates that they aie bho lesult of a cioss between cows brought from the north ea.st of England and West Highland bulls. This latter theory seems to be the most probable, as traits' of their Highland blood aie still to be seen in Ays-hires, in the .shape and formation of the horns, and the pugnacious disposition of tho breed. There is also #ood leason to believe that the old Ayrshiics were cio.-'-ed with Dutch cattle and' the Channel Islands cattle, Mich as (iuernsc^s. or Aldeim-ys as Ayivhires in some of their characteiis.ics lceinblo iho-e bvcedf. They arc dcsciibed in 1825 by Alton, a farmer of tho Cunningham district of Ayrshue, as a ' puny and unshapely race, tho cow- 01113 giving ?i\ to eight (juaits per day, and only wcijjliin<» 20 stone when tat-.' Since then Ay I. shire cattle have made rapid strides, along with the advance of eh illation, tow aids the goal of peifeetion. They aie essentially a daily breed, and it is in their milking piopci'Lies thcrofoie, that we must look for tho most improvement. Duiinir the last fitty \eai-, they have made lapid stiides in popular favour, and are now icplacing nearly cvciy other d.iiiy biecd, not only in the houtli-wcst of Scotland, but throughout the countiy generally, and aic a^o veiy hugely ke])t in England.

Imim;u\ i miap ok Tin: I'un.n. 11 y nioro generous feeding and -.election' Ayi^hiies have been improved in si/.0, and become -houger in bone, and po-^ses^ed ot a nioic robust const itul ion. Theic is a deal of talk about Lbo fattening pi opcihes bcin<r impio\ cd ; but J don't quite see the lea^on for thi.s, as we .seem to ba\e plenty ot beef-producing biecdsaheady,and certainly not too many daily bieed.s. Aijain, there would bo a dccieaso in the milking piopen-'-ities of An i ->hii os w lion they became t-o lm|)iovod. Fiom what h,i^ been already said, it may bo uathered that the home of tbi^ bleed is the '■outh-uobt of Scotland, chiefly the county of Ayr, from w hich the breed takes its name. It is also kept in Dumfiic-, Lanark, Renfrew, Hiding, and Dunbarton. These counties arc the centres of the dairy industiy of Scotland ; and this *hows the high esteem in which the (Vyishhe cow i* licld by Uiomj who engage in that industry. It is also largely kopt in England and 111 1 eland, and is c\poitcd to Canada and Holland.

Points or tiik Bukfd. As regards the point** oi 1 tic breed, the head is small, Ihe horns wide at the base, cvi ving upwards and slightly inwards at the points; the eye i>> ({nick and lively, the neck is leng and slender, but thickens wheic it joins, the shoulders; the body is wedge-shaped, Iho fore quarters being light and thin, withers h'nc, and shoulders sloping *, the hind quarters me much heavier and broader, Iho back is straight and broad behind, the hook bones wide, and tho thighs deep ; tho tail is long and thin, and set on the same lexel as the shouldcis. This typo of animal^ generally betokens great milking capacities. Tho legs are small and short, and the bonos fine. The udder is the great point in Ayrshire^. It should bo well sot on, eaparioue, broad, and square. Tho milk-veins arc prominont ; the teats arc small, and at some distance apart, and are of uniform shape. On tho | whole, tho Ayrshire is a compact, wellproportioned cow. Tho colour is goncially brown and white, or brown alone, or black and white, or even pure white. The sUm is thin j a good-milking but bad fattening point, as ifc shows that there is little of tho I colli'lar tissue underneath from which fat

MANAUNiUKNT AND BIIKKDINCI. The milking properties being of tho gi ea(cst importance, brooders generally choose as «t stud bull one possessing a feminine aspect about the head and neck, as they think that this is an indication that his female progeny will bo pood milkers. This is not a showyard point; tlioy prefer tho bull to bo from a noted milking dairy, great attention being paid to tho milking qualities of his mother.

• Town Darijss. In town dairies, whero the milk is sold direcl all tho year round, no calves aro bred, but fresh cows bought in to replace thoso sold out when they becomo dry. Thus a cow is only kopfc from nine months to a year, and then sold for butchors' meat. While on tho subject of town claries, I may remark that Edinburgh dairymen generally find that it is more profitable, to, keep shorthorns than ilyrehires, because, though tho

yiold of milk way bo a triflo loss, yot that is counterbalanced by tho decrcaso isl osn at which shorthorns can bo sold out. In dairies in south-west of Hcotland, where milk is wolrJ all the year round, and whovo calves arc bred, tho cows calvo in succession all through the year, so as to kcop up a regular supply of milk j but in cheeso dairies the cows genet ally calvo in Murch or April, so that a good supply of milk is got for tho summer cheeso making, when the grabs is most luxuriant. In very many dairies two practices arc combined, viz , cheese-making in summer and belling the milk in winter. Cheese U made during tho months of .June, .)uly, and August, when the price of milk is low and carriage risky owing to the hot weather. During tho 'rest ot tho year, from September to May, tho milk is either sold in the neighbouiing t>wn or sent by rail to Glasgow. Tho price per gallon varies according to tho month ot tho year, and it may not be out ot place to compaio the -averages of tho last four years. Vov 1084-85 the average prico per gallon was 8 .-; d ; lor 1885-86, 7«d ; for 1880-87, 7,^1; tot this year, 1887-88, nearly Oil (7^d). This shows that tho price, though lower than that m 1884-85, is considerably higher than that obtained (luring tho last two yoars, and wo may, therefore, conclude that dairying is looking up again.

Systkm CoMrA)ii'>i>. On making a companion of these systems we sec that the mo^t piobtablo plan is to sell the milk diicct, where a suitable market is to he obtained, # n in the neighbourhood of a huge town ; but in other eases it ia not so. Thus taking the average annual produce of a cow at 600 gallons, 400 of which arc pi od need during the nine winter months and sold at Q<\ per gallon, and the remaining 200 produced during summer and sold at 6d per gallon, that gives a total of 118 6s Bd. Support! the o 200 gallons had been made into cheese, they would have produced 2 out of ohecAe, wlnVh sold at 60s per cwt., would loiiliso L'o, giving a tolal of 119 6s 8(1. This gives an adxanlage ot t'l over the other system, not taking into account the \;iluc ot whey as a food for the pigs. liot/n making is the least proiitable ot all the systems. Taking the * ield at 2501bs at l-i per lb, that gnes uh the total Cl 2 10. J , and ostinutirg the buttertnilk at •2, is L"l 4 10-. lVilup^ somu may think the-o yield- (oo hi<j,li> 'nit irood feeding and loti'-onable f.ne they may eeilaiuly be obtained: but! should think the juciago yield would not bu all over moic than 500 gallons. When fed on ioreing food, tlie yield might go beyond this considerably. 1 lm\e heattfof an Ayi -hire cow giving 1305 gallons in a year, and 1200 is frequently obtained.

]k)\\ Ml SYsTI.M. The daiiios arc sometimes let O".t io 'Howcis,' who, along with their famil'cs undoitake the whole charge of the cattlp, and pay so much to the humor, either in ' kind ' or money, and the piofjt which b o\cr i* a 1 enumeration for their tioublc. The rate ot payment \ aries fiom C 9 to CIO per cow, or in Kind from 3 to 4cwt. of checbc. The money plan is the best from a farmer's point ot \icw, tor, putting dishonesty out of the juostAon, his income from the cows would be much Mirer, and not subject to maiket fluctuations. The checso now generally made is Cheddar. Dunlop uib the vaiiety made in ancient times but in lccent ycais. the Cheddar has icpkecd ib to a considerable extent, though in '-ome distiiets it is std made. The Cheddar pos.scssos the ad\an tagc of being sooner rinc than the Dunlop FaTti<mm; (,>i vuni:s.\N'i> Cko.ssim;. This i- the least impoilant property of A\ishhos Vine Ayifthuc bulloeUs- aic seldom bied, but when they arc, they ay kept till they aic thiec yeai.s old and full matured, and then they make \ery fai butcher's beasts ; but are not nearly so piotitable as the popular Ayrshiro shoi thoi u cross, which, as a butcher's bea«t, ci.m pares favomably with any pure- bred o\ pi\>s bullock, with e\cc])tion of the Anmi-? shoitboin, which is in -omo rc-pret su|)Orior. It i-^ not an uncommon tiling to bullocks of tin-, cross to pioducc at two jear-, old 12 cwt ot beef. There is no cio-> which fee(K mi c >sily as this, and mmv makes better beef, if as »ood, when killed. ('<)\ll'Uilsn\ WITH OTlll It 13^1 I, OS, Sheldon, in his book on Pain/ Farina nxi, de-ciibes an evpuunent which showthis supcuority of Ayrshiie :— ' There weie two diiiiio", one in winch A>i shires wc»e kept, and in the other shorthorns ; theie we io 64 cows in each, and they were post in cd on land of the same quality, and both weic specimen? ol thcii iespeeti\e biecds. The Asishir^ a daily a\eia<^e j. icUi of 331bs of milk and 3Ubs of cheese ; the shorthorns j^avc '271bs ot milk and 2Ubs of cheese. This is a voiy striking pi oof "of thoMipoiiority of Ayisluie-. They arc supeiior to Iveny cattle ine\ciy waj, and though their milk is not so rich as that of either Calloways or Channel Islands cattle, yet they K r ivc a much greater yield. In this connection 1 think the (Juouisey, the most dangerous rival of the Au'shirey for we read ot them jrhin^ cvtiaoulmaiyields of rich milk, with a wondeiful quan, tily of l)utter f.it. All thi* is, no doubt, tnio *. but biing tlie (Jucrn-ey from its nati\c climate to (he cold, wet climate of the west, coast, and feed her on scant, coarse pastnie, and (he milk record will luuca ditlcreut tale to tell. On the other hand, the Aryshiro show" a tendency to lay on fat when taken to a warmer climate and a more generous diet.' Jn conclusion, then, 1 think no better -ummary of the qualities of Aryshires can be given than that by Mr Sheldon, when ho pays that 'they cost le-s to buy, they cost less to keep, the capital risked in ono animal is smaller the quality of milk pioduced is better, the qmntity is greater per head, 1 and much greater tor the outlay.'