This breed is a great favorite with many. It is small--scarcely larger
than the Guernsey--and is remarkably nimble and hardy, thriving on
scant feed and in rough pastures where some of the other breeds would
starve. The Ayrshires are red or red and white and give a large flow
of milk, fairly rich in caseine and in butter. The breed has its
phenomenal cows, both as milkers and as butter makers. The cream
globules of the milk are quite irregular in size, and hence do not
readily separate from the milk by ordinary methods of cream raising.
But this fact makes the milk all the better for family use, for
marketing and for the cheese factory, or for both butter and cheese
from the same milk. The Ayrshire, like the Dutch-Friesian, may be
called a good general purpose cow. The greatest objections to this
breed have been its nervousness and its small teats; but both of these
may be overcome by gentle treatment and careful breeding--indeed, have
been overcome in many cases. For rough, hilly pastures, there is no
better cow than the Ayrshire. But although she can stand some hard
fare, she responds quickly to gentle and generous usage. Well-selected
and well-bred Ayrshires make a splendid dairy herd.