Year book of the Ayrshire Breeders (Volume 1910) online

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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY



SF

191

A98

A7

1910






â–  -. â– 



HOME DAIRY TEST, 1908-9.




FRENCH PRIZE CUP.
Awarded to John R. Valentine, Bryn Mawr, Pa.




MINNIE OF AYRLYN, 18294.
Grand Champion, Tennessee State Fair, 1909.




20922, MAY MITCHELL, A. R. 156.
Mature Record, 11,708 lbs. Milk, 536 lbs. Butter.



YEAR BOOK



OF THE



AYRSHIRE BREEDERS



1910



CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE BREED
OFFICIAL MILK AND BUTTER RECORDS AND
CUTS OF TYPICAL AYRSHIRE COWS THAT
HAVE BECOME NOTED, EITHER IN OFFICIAL
TESTS OR IN THE SHOW RING.




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UN1VERS'

MASSACHUSET1S

AMHERSl MASS.



OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

President
John R. Valentine Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Vice-Presidents

J. F. Converse Woodville, N. Y.

Geo. E. Pike Gouverneur, N. Y.

J. W. Clise Seattle, Wash.

J. A. Ness Auburn, Me.

Secretary and Editor
C. M. Winslow Brandon, Vt.

Treasurer
N. S 1 . Winsor Greenville, R. I.

Auditor
Geo. H. Yeaton Dover, N. H.

Balance of Executive Committee
L. A. Reymann, Wheeling, W. Va., For 3 years.
J. F. Butterfield, S. Montrose, Pa., For 3 years.

W. P. Schanck, Avon, N. Y For 2 years.

Howard Cook, Beloit, O For 2 years.

Charles H. Hayes, Portsmouth,

N. H For 1 year.

John W. Oakey, Bryn Mawr, Pa. . . For 1 year.

Home Dairy Test Committee

C. M. Winslow Brandon, Vt.

W. V. Probasco Cream Ridge, N. J.

L. A. Reymann Wheeling, W. Va.



RECORD OF FIVE AYRSHIRE COWS GIVING
THE HIGHEST OFFICIAL RECORD IN THE
ADVANCED REGISTRY.

lbs. milk. lbs. fat. lbs. butter.

Rena Ross 15,072 643 . 71 751

Bessie of Rosemont 14,102 578. 57 675

Auchenbraih White Beauty

2d 13,789 564.39 658

Fern Ayer 13,601 519.64 606

Auchenbrack Sweet Pea 2d, 13,097 532.87 622

Total Average of Advanced Registry.

lbs. butter,

lbs. milk. in one year.

96 2-year-olds averaged 7,397 ZA&A

45 3-year-olds averaged 8,568 39554

35 4-year-olds averaged 9,7io 445

115 mature cows averaged 10,234 462

291 cows and heifers averaged 8,974 412



HISTORY



AYRSHIRE BREED OF CATTLE

BY

Valancey E. Fuller.



The origin of the Ayrshire breed is still somewhat a
matter of conjecture. Many believe that its foundation
was the wild white cattle of Wales, crossed by Dutch,
Channel Isles or Short- Horn breeds.

We are frank in admitting that we shared this belief.
Lately, however, a very valuable treatise has come under
our notice in which such convincing proof is adduced
that the Ayrshire breed had its origin from the Dutch
cattle that we must revise our previous convictions.*

The paper we refer to was published last year in the
" Report of Milk Records for the Season 1908, with
Notes on the Origin and Early History of the Ayrshire
Breed of Cattle," by Sir John Speir, and issued by the
Ayrshire Cattle Milk Records Committee of Scotland.

*I find in the " Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland, published in 1876, a prize essay on the His-
tory of Ayrshire Cattle by Thomas Farrell, in which he says :
" The improvement in the Ayrshire breed of cattle dates from
the year 1750, when it is stated on competent authority that the
Earl of Marchmont had brought from his estates in Berwickshire
a bull and several cows, which he had some time previously pro-
cured from the Bishop of Durham, of the Teeswater breed, then
known by the name of the Dutch breed. These cattle were
of a light brown color, spotted with white." C. M. W.



It is also generally believed that the purity of the. breed
did not extend further back than the first years of the
nineteenth century. While that is true so far as the
designation "Ayrshire " is concerned, Sir John Speir
proved conclusively that it existed at least during the mid-
dle or toward the end of the seventeenth century under
the names " Cunninghame," " Dunlop " and later
"Ayrshire."

We take the liberty of quoting extensively from Sir
John Speir's able paper, in fact we will abbreviate his
arguments as to the origin of the breed.

In 1596 Leonard Marscal, who was chief farrier to
King James, published a book called " The Government
of Cattle,"' and in it he says : " Also for oxen to labour,
the black oxe and redde oxe are best, and the browne or
greezled oxe nexte ; the white one is worst of all colours.
* * * The browne colour mixt with white spots is
good." The last sentence refers to cows.

From this it is evident that the red cows with white
spots were early recognized as the best ones and were
probably of Dutch origin.

Early in the seventeenth century Gervase Markham
wrote as follows : "As touching the right breed of Kine
through our nation, it generally affordeth very good ones,
yet some countries do far exceed some other countries,
such as Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire
for black kine; Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and some
part of Wiltshire for red kine; and Lincolnshire for pied
kine." Sir John Speir, commenting on the writing of
Marscal and Markham, says : " Pied cattle, sometimes
spelled ' pyed/ are those of brown-and-white, the white
being in large blotches and each color quite distinct ; " and
again, " The only pure breed of cattle in Britain which
are so colored at the present day are the Ayrshires; and



the fact that both Leonard Marscal and Gervase Mark-
ham specially referred to them at this early date has a
particular bearing on the origin of the Ayrshire."

It is generally conceded, in fact, it is beyond doubt,
that Dutch cattle were introduced into England and
Scotland ; it is also proved that the " flecked " or " pyed "
red-and-white breed that was found in the Humber or
Holderness district from 1572 to 1786 were the descend-
ants of cattle imported from Holland.

In the " Whole Art of Husbandry," published by John
Mortimer in the early part of the eighteenth century,
he says : " The best sort of cows for the Pail only that
they are tender and need very good keeping, are the long-
legged Short-Horn cow of the Dutch breed which is to
be had in some places of Lincolnshire, but mostly in
Kent."

In 1756, T. Hale, in his book, "A Compleat Body of
Husbandry/' says : " Yorkshire oxen are in general black
all over, and they are very large, and form a valuable
kind in every respect. There are none that exceed them
in labor and few feed like them. * * * The oxen of
Lincolnshire are in general red and white, they are very
bulky and equal to any in value. The oxen of Somerset-
shire and some of the adjoining counties are naturally
red. They are also a very fine large and valuable breed.
* * * The reader is not to suppose, from what is here
said, that all the oxen of Yorkshire are black; all those
of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire red; or all the Lin-
colnshire oxen pyed. These are the genuine and proper
breed of each of these several counties, but the graziers
have mixed them more or less in each county." Again,
he says : " The fine Dutch breed have long legs, short
horns and a full body. They are to be had in Kent and
Sussex and some other places where they are still care-



8

fully kept up without mixture in colour, and where they
will yield two gallons at a milking, but in order to do
this they require great attendance and the best of food."

Other writers, about that time, referring to what was
known in Yorkshire as the " Holderness " breed, state
that they are " really the Dutch sort."

Youatt, in his " Complete Grazier," published in 1764,
says : " The short-horned cattle, under which denomina-
tions are included the Holderness and Teeswater breeds,
have been supposed to have derived their origin from a
cross with some large bulls that were imported by Sir
William St. Quintin nearly a century ago from Holland
into Yorkshire, and in the east and north ridings, in
which county the two latter breeds have been long estab-
lished and deservedly esteemed * * * and it is from
some of that stock, so maintained, that the present im-
proved short-horn cattle sometimes known as the Durham
breed, is supposed by some to have been descended."

George Culley published his " Observations on Live
Stock," in 1786, and referring to this breed says : " There
are many reasons for thinking that this breed has been
imported from the continent, first, because they are still
in many places called the Dutch breed ; secondly, because
we find few of these cattle anywhere in this island except
along these coasts facing those parts of the continent
where the same kind of cattle are still bred, and reaching
from the southern extremity of Lincolnshire to the
borders of Scotland. * * * But, thirdly, I remember
a gentleman of the county of Durham (Mr. Michael
Dobinson) who went in the early part of his life to
Holland to buy bulls; those he bought were of much
service in improving the breed, and this Mr. Dobinson
and his neighbors, even in my day, were noted for having









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NETHERHALL DOUGLAS SWELL, 11983.
Grand Champion at Seattle, 1909.




NELLIE BURNS OF BURNSIDE, 16511.
Champion Show Cow at Many Exhibitions.



the best breed of short-horned cattle, and sold their bulls
and heifers for great prices."
This was about the year 1700.

Where "Ayrshires " Originated.

Dunlop, in the district of Cunninghame of North Ayr-
shire, it is generally conceded, is the place where the
Ayrshire breed of cattle first attracted attention. It is
significant that Cunninghame derives its name from
Cunneag (a milk pail or churn) and Hame (the home
of), the home of the milk pail or churn. It is very fitting
that so grand a dairy cow should have found its home in
such a great dairy district.

The Ayrshire breed was first known as the " Cunning-
hame," then the " Dunlop " breed. The latter was used
until about 1790 or 1800. This name continued to be
used while the distribution was confined to that locality.
In confirmation of this we quote from the report of
Col. Fullarton, member of Parliament for the district of
Cunningham, made to the Board of Agriculture in 1793,
in which he says : " In Cuningham or the northern divi-
sion of the county, a breed of cattle has for more than a
century been established remarkable for the quantity and
quality of their milk in proportion to their size. They
have long been denominated the Dunlop breed from the
ancient family of that name, or the parish where the
breed was first brought to perfection, and where there
still continues a greater attention to milk cows and dairies
than in any other part of Scotland." There is no doubt
that the Cunningham and the Dunlop breeds are one and
the same, and what was known as the Dunlop breed
was later known as the Ayrshire ; so that, according to
Col. Fullarton, the Ayrshire breed of to-day must date
back to 1675 or 1700.



IO

By the year 1 810-15 the breed had become distributed
over a much wider area, not only in Ayrshire but in the
counties of the southwest of England, and was then called
the "Ayrshire " breed.

Sir John Spier says : "It is almost a certainty that
between 1650 and 1750 what were known then as Dutch,
Teeswater, Durham, Holderness, and Lincoln cattle, were
one • and the same breed, and, although as unlike each
other at the present time as they can possibly be, the
Short Horn and the Ayrshire have been derived from the
same source." This probably accounts for the belief so
general that the Ayrshire has a cross of the Short Horn,
instead of both having the same origin as according to
Spier; and it may account for the wonderfully strong,
straight backs of each breed.

It is interesting to know something of the district of
Cuningham where the breed originated, and we quote
from Timothy Pont's " Topographical Account of the
District of Cuningham," written about 1600, in which he
says : " The 2nd. degree and parte of this countrey, being
a great deall louer than the former (that is the district
between Largs, Dairy and Kilbirnie), is much more fertile
in corn and store, being of a deipe, fatt, clayeisch soyle,
much enriched by the industrious inhabitants lyming of
their ground, quherby the pastures heir, since this experi-
ment ves practised, is become much more luxuriant than
bef or ; quhence it is that this pairt of the countrey yeilds
a grate deall of excellent butter, as all the countrey
besyde, but especially the parishes of Steuartoune and
Dunlopp. The butter of this countrey in effecte serves
a grate pairt of the Kingdome, one aker of ground heir
yielding more butter than three akers of ground in any
of the next adjacent countreyes." The well-known coup-



II

let given below is supposed to have been written about
the time of Pont :

Kyle for a man,

Carrick for a coo,

Cuningham for butter and cheese,

And Galloway for woo'.

The first mention of Ayrshires as a distinct breed was
made by Aiton in the "Farmers' Magazine," in 1811,
where he says that Fulton of Beith was the first to intro-
duce Ayrshires into that part of the county in 179x3.

In " The Transactions of The Highland Society," on
the "Agriculture of South Ayrshire," by Rev. William
Donaldson, of Ballantrae, the following appears :
" Scarcely any other kind of horned cattle is to be seen
than the well-known Cunningham breed of milch cows."
But in the .following year the same gentleman refers tp
them as " the true Ayrshire breed of milk cattle."

One of the first men to adopt Ayrshires in large num-
bers for the practical purposes of a large dairy was Mr.
William Harley, a Glasgow merchant, who carried on a
large dairy in that city in 1800. This was known as the
Willowbank Dairy, and he had accommodation for 300
cows. It was opened in 18 10 and by 1814 he had 260
head of Ayrshires. Thus early were the merits of the
Ayrshire recognized. From all accounts, Mr. Harley
was a very progressive man who introduced many novel
ideas as to light and ventilation of his stables. So wide-
spread did the knowledge and fame of his dairy become
that it was visited by crowned heads of European coun-
tries and many notables.

The first " show " that was ever held in Scotland was
in 1786, by the Highland Society, but no class was made
for Ayrshires until 1814. This was repeated in 1816.



12

In 1835, the Highland Show, which is migratory, was
held for the first and only time in Ayr. Naturally there
was a large entry of Ayrshires. In the aged bull class
there were sixteen entries. A condition attached to the
prizes for bulls at Ayr was that if twenty pounds sterling
was subscribed,, they had to travel the district and serve
cows within a radius of thirty miles.

Col. Fullarton thus describes the Ayrshire in 1793:
" The breed is short in the leg, finely shaped in the head
and neck, with small horns, not wide, but tapering to the
point. They are neither so thin coated as the Dutch, nor
so thick and roughhided as the Lancashire cattle. They
are deep in the body, but not so long nor so full and
ample in the carcase and hind quarters, as some other
kinds. * * * The farmers reckon that a cow yield-
ing twenty quarts of milk per day during the summer
season will produce cheese and butter worth about £6
per annum."'

*Aiton claims that the Ayrshire of Scotland at his time would
give an average of 600 gallons of milk, and I find in an old vol-
ume of Scotch history the following tables, illustrating the three
methods of disposing of milk. C M. W.

Selling the Milk.
600 gallons, at rod per gallon 25 o

Made Into Butter.

240 lbs. butter, at is 4d per lb 16 o

Estimated value of buttermilk. 3 10 o

Total 19 10 o

Madf. Into Cheese.

5% cwt. of- cheese, at 70s per cwt 18 7 6

Estimated value of whey 2 o o

Total 20 7 6



13

In 1806 the breed is thus described by Nasmyth in his
report on Clydesdale : " The colour is mostly brown,
with spots of white, the hair thick set, soft and sleek;
the ears small and neat, the limbs short, small and clean
boned, the chest rather round than deep at the heart, the
shoulders, and more especially the loins, broad and square,
the back from the shoulder to the descent of the rump
quite straight, the tail long and small. Some aim at
having cows without horns, but when there are horns
they are small at the root, not long and pretty erect."

In 1829, George Robertson, factor for the Earl of
Eglinton, in his " Progress of Improvements in Ayr-
shire, more particularly in Cunninghame," speaking of
the Ayrshire breed, says : " This forms the very pride of
Ayrshire husbandry, more especially in Cunninghame.
* * * It seems to me to be about the best, if not the
most valuable of the milch cow kind in Britain. * * *
The form of the Cunninghame cow is very elegant, but
must be seen to be well understood. So far as it may
be explained in words it is thus : The neck is small, the
head little, the muzzle taper, the horns short, curved and
bending upwards, the countenance mild, the body straight
along the back from shoulder to tail, the limbs slender,
the udder shaped like a well turned punch bowl, and the
paps widely set. The head, the neck and the udder are
the chief distinguishing points. The colour is generally
brown of many hues, from dark to yellow, intermixed
and mottled in many a varied form and proportion with
white. Some few have a black ground, without any
change in character, but almost none are of one colour
only. In a whole herd of forty or fifty, there will not
two of them be alike in colour." So far as we have been
able to find, this is the first mention of the upturned horns.



14

In 1877, the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book was formed,
and since that time a herd book of all entries for each
year has been issued yearly.

It is claimed that the first importation of Ayrshires to
this country was made by Mr. H. W. Hills, of Windsor,
Conn., in 1822. Sir John Spier says that there was an
importation made to Massachusetts in 1830, but this is
not confirmed. In 1837 the Massachusetts Society for
Promoting Agriculture imported one cow, " which is
reported to have yielded sixteen pounds of butter a week
for several weeks." Mr. John P. Cushing, near Boston,
Mass., had a herd of imported Ayrshires in 1837; Mr.
E. A. Brown, who introduced the breed into Ohio in
1848, had a herd in that State. The distribution of Ayr-
shires may be said to be world wide. They are found
in large numbers in the United States, Canada, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Australia, Finland, China,
Japan and South Africa. The trade with Japan especi-
ally is extending rapidly, and the breed seems to adapt
itself to the climate and conditions wherever found.

The associations or organizations to promote the in-
terests of Ayrshires on this continent have been numer-
ous. The first seems to have been started in 1863 in
Massachusetts, and this organization published Vol. 1 of
the Herd Record of the Association of Breeders of
Thoroughbred Stock, Ayrshires. The second volume
was published in 1868 and the third in 1871 ; but the title
was changed to "American and Canadian Herd Record."
The American "Ayrshire Breeders' Association," which
exists to-day, was founded in 1875. It continued the
work started fn Massachusetts in 1863 by publishing
Vol. 4 the year it was founded. The following year
another volume was published, called Vol. 5 of the old
series or Vol. 1 of the new, and came out under the
designation, "Ayrshire Record."



i5

In 1874 a herd book for cattle tracing to- importation
was issued as Vol. 1 of the North American Ayrshire
Register.

The Ayrshire Importers and Breeders' Association of
Canada was organized in 1870 and the Dominion Breed-
ers' Association in 1889. The two were united in 1898.
Besides these, there was the Montreal Ayrshire Herd
Book.

The Ayrshire Breeders' Association was incorporated
in the State of Vermont on November 23, 1886, by a
special act of the Legislature. The founders were : J. D.
W. French, James F. Converse, Alonzo Libby, F. H.
Mason, Obadiah Brown, Henry E. Smith, C. M. Winslow,
S. M. Wells, H. R. C. Watson, Jas. Scott, Geo. A.
Fletcher, Chas. H. Hayes and John Stewart.

The Ayrshire Breeders' Association has now 390 mem-
bers. Owing to the fact that the Ayr shires are much
less numerous than the Guernseys, Holsteins or Jerseys,
the receipts of the Association have been comparatively
small, and it has been much hampered in the work it
should do. Considering its meagre resources it has
accomplished wonders in popularizing the breed.

Probably nothing has done more to impress the
public with the dairy qualities of the Ayrshires as milk
producers and butter makers than the Home Dairv Tests
inaugurated in the year 1895, and the A. R. Records
started in 1902-3.

In the Home Dairy Test, the Association offers prizes
for cows or herds of Ayrshires making the best milk and
butter records for one year. There are three prizes for
individual cows and three for herds of five cows each.
In addition to the cash prizes is a piece of silver plate
obtained from the income of the " French Fund " of
$1,500, donated by Miss Cornelia A. French, of North



i6

Andover, Mass., for the herd of five cows who shall give
the largest record for a year in milk and butter, beginning
October first.

All tests shall be under the supervision of the com-
mittee and the Experiment Station of the State where the
herd being tested is located.

The Experiment Station will send an agent monthly to
make a two days' test of the milk from each cow in the
test, and to make a record of the same on blanks prepared
for the purpose, together with the two days previous to
the agent's test, as taken from the owner's private record.

The sampling of milk and sending the same to the
Experiment Station will be done by the Experiment Sta-
tion agent. .

The result of each year's test shall be computed in the
following manner : The weights of milk produced each
month shall be multiplied by the per cent, of butter fat as
shown by the official test for that month, and the sum of
the results thus obtained shall be the year's record for
butter fat.

The awards will be made from a uniform scale of
points, figuring the total amount of milk from each cow
at one point for each pound of milk given during the year,
and seventeen and one-half points for each pound of
butter fat reported by the Experiment Station agent for
the year.

The expense incurred from employing the Experiment
Station shall be equally divided between the contestant
and the Association.

Testing for Advanced Registry may be made in con-
nection with the Home Dairy Test with no extra expense,
and it is advisable to carry along the two at the same time.

An approximate statement of the amount and kind of
food is requested to be given, as well as the manner of
stabling and caring for the cattle.



17

The Ayrshire Breeders' Association very wisely en-
courages yearly official tests by the establishment of the
A. R., which includes both milk and butter.

The cows are divided into four classes, two-year-olds,
three-year-olds, four-year-olds and full-age form, which
includes all cows above five years.

All animals to be eligible to entry in the Advanced
Registry must be recorded in the Ayrshire Record. A
bull to be eligible must be a typical Ayrshire bull in
general appearance, scale eighty points and have two
daughters in the A. R. from different dams, but he can
be entered without physical qualifications and without
scaling provided he has four daughters from different
dams in the A. R. list.

For entry in a year's record the rules provide that if
a female's record begins the day she is two years old or
before that time, she must give not less than 6,000 pounds
of milk, and 214.3 pounds of butter fat in 365 consecu-
tive days, and for each day she is over two years old,
at the time of the beginning of the test, there shall be
added 1.37 pounds of milk to the 6,000 pounds and .06
pounds of fat to the 214.3 pounds. A three-year-old must
give 6,500 pounds of milk and 236 pounds of butter fat,
and for each day she is over three years old at time of
beginning of test, there shall be added 2.74 pounds of milk
to the 6,500 pounds of milk, .12 pounds of butter fat to
the 236 pounds, which additions shall be made in four-
year-old and mature forms. When a cow is four years
old she must give 7,500 pounds of milk and 279 pounds of
butter fat. A cow in her mature form must give 8,500
pounds of milk and 322 pounds of butter fat.

Considering the fact that there are far fewer Ayr-