over the whole body; the wool thickly covering its surface, the forehead, cheeks, and legs, clear down to the hoofs, giving the fleece when shorn and spread out in its ample dimensions, the appearance of having been taken from the carcass of a huge buf falo, rather than so small an animal as the domestic sheep.

"4. The fiber of the wool is very fine, quite equal to the best merino in Spain, and is the very antipodes of that of which so much complaint is made by the manufacturer, of being harsh, dry, crispy and wiry. The fleece opens of a brilliant creamy color within, on a skin of rich pink, and is soft, glossy, wavy, and very even over the whole body; is exceedingly close and compact, and has a yolk free from gum and easily liberated when it comes to be washed, but which protects the wool from the weather, and keeps it free of the dead ends that are so objectionable. It becomes of the purest white when scoured by the manufacturer, and still retains its mellow, oily touch, so grateful to the handling of good judges. Its felting properties are beyond dispute, making it a choice material for the manufacture of fine cloths."

AYRSHIRE CATTLE.

BY SANFORD HOWARD, ALBANY.

Considering the importance of the dairy in this country, it is a matter of surprise, that so little attention is paid to the character of the stock devoted to this object. According to the statistical returns of New-York, for the year 1845, the whole number of milch cows in the State, was 999,490. The total produce of butter is stated at 79,501,733 pounds, and the produce of cheese, 36,744,976 pounds-only equal to 794 pounds of butter, and 36 pounds of cheese to each cow. The greatest quantity of butter per cow, returned from any one county, where no cheese was mentioned, was 110 pounds, from Kings. The greatest quantity of cheese per cow, returned from any one county, was 226 pounds, from Herkimer; but it is probable that some butter was produced from the same cows, in addition to the cheese. From the township o Fairfield, in Herkimer county, nearly 350 returned per cow.

pounds of cheese were

The dairy produce of cows, in quantity and quality, depends on their natural constitutions, and the treatment given them in reference to food, and other requisites. Both these points should receive from dairymen the strictest attention, if they expect to receive the greatest profit.* Every farmer may know that there is a great difference in the constitutional properties of animals Some, from an inherent principle in their organization, can pro duce from a given amount of food, a greater amount of flesh, or fat, than others; some, again, yield a greater quantity of milk or butter, under the same circumstances. It may have been noticed that these constitutional traits are, to a certain extent, hereditary, and that families or breeds are characterised by peculiar propensities, which greatly affect their value for special purposes.

The difference in the amount of butter yielded by cows in the same dairy, and subjected to the same treatment in every respect, often amounts to 100 per cent some giving not more than four or five pounds per week, and others eight to ten or more. In most dairies, it is reasonable to believe that, if all the cows were equal in quality to the best in the herd, the quantity of butter would be increased at least one-third. But suppose attention to the breed or constitutional qualities of cows, should result in an increase of only one pound per week for each cow in the State, for six months of the year, it would give a yearly increase of 25,986,740 pounds, which at only twelve and a half cents per pound, would give the immense annual return of $3,248,382. When it is considered that this is but for one State alone, some idea may be had of the vast benefits which would result to the whole country, from an improvement readily attainable in milch cows.

The systematic breeding of cattle with reference to the dairy, or with that as a primary object, has scarcely been attempted in

The following remarks by Aiton, in reference to the proper mode of rearing cows for the dairy, are much to the point, and might well be heeded by our farmers.

"When young cows of the dairy breed are reared on moors, or had pasture, and get only as much fodder as keeps them alive, they grow up, what in Ayrshire is termed a rough beast,' with large horns, coarse hair, thick skin, high bones, and other marks of a starveling, and they never after become good milkers. But when they are fed on better pasture, and provided with some green food, and good fodder for the winter, they grow up proper dairy cows, having the desired shapes and qualities."

this country, until within a late period, and, indeed, has not been extensively practiced in Great Britain. The great aim of the most eminent breeders having generally been the development of the fattening principle, beef being in England an object of more consequence than butter and cheese. More attention is, however, being latterly bestowed on this important department of farm-husbandry, and there are now two distinct and well-established breeds, the Ayrshire and the Alderney or Jersey, which are seduously cultivated for their dairy properties. Neither of these breeds can be said to be common in the United States, though both have been known here to a limited extent for several years.

The Ayrshire breed, which takes its name from the county of Ayr, in Scotland, where it originated, about seventy years ago, has become widely disseminated, and if we may credit accounts and authorities, it is now, as a dairy breed, the most popular in Britain. Several importations of Ayrshires have been made within a few years to various parts of the United States; and although the trials which have been made with them are necessarily limited, from the comparatively small number of animals, and the shortness of time which has elapsed since their introduction, their qualities as a breed are evidently such as to render them deserving of being more fully known.

The most authentic accounts represent the modern Ayrshire to have been formed by an union of several breeds, though the particulars in regard to the various crosses which have entered into the composition of the present stock, cannot be accurately ascertained. The nucleus of the breed appears to have been first known under the name of the "Dunlop stock," having been possessed by a distinguished family in Ayrshire by the name of Dunlop, as early as 1780. Rawlin, (as quoted by Youatt) who wrote in 1794, speaking of the cattle of Ayrshire, says, "they have another breed, called the Dunlop cows, which are allowed to be the best race for yielding milk in Great Britain or Ireland, not only for large quantities, but also for richness and quality." This, though extravagant praise, perhaps, shows that the stock was