Herd Record of the Association of Breeders of Thorough-Bred Neat Stock Part 23

OF

Thorough-Bred Neat Stock.

AYRs.h.i.+RES.

HARTFORD: PRESS OF WILLIAMS, WILEY & WATERMAN.

1863.

NOTICE.

OWING to circ.u.mstances beyond the control of the Committee of Publication, or of the Committees on the Pedigrees of the various cla.s.ses of stock, it has been impossible to publish the first volume of the Herd Record of the a.s.sociation of Breeders of Thorough-bred Neat Stock at an earlier day. The desire to obtain as large a representation of stock as possible, and to extend the advantages of the a.s.sociation as widely among breeders as they could, has induced the committees on the various cla.s.ses of stock to hold open their books and the delays incident upon tracing doubtful pedigrees, through in many instances a long correspondence with owners and breeders, have prevented them from furnis.h.i.+ng the copy to the Publication Committee, in season to have the work finished sooner. Every care has been taken to have the records perfect, and to admit no pedigrees of doubtful character. It is believed this has been successfully accomplished, and that the animals here recorded may be relied upon as of undoubted purity of blood.

H. A. DYER, } _Committee_ S. I. BARTLETT,} _of Publication._

INDEX.

Adams, Charles Francis, 24 Agricultural Society for the District of Montreal, 19, 24, 55 Aiton, Andrew, 18 Aiton, Hugh, 42 Ames, Frederic L., 18, 30, 48, 54 Anderson, James, 26 Archibald, Hugh, 55, 57

Ball, William, 14, 21, 45, 50, 53, 59 Barrett, George M., 50, 60 Baron de Longuiell, 19 Birnie, William, 13, 17, 23, 24, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 41, 45, 46 Bill, John, 58 Borrie, Mr. 11 Bradley, C. S., 19 Brodie, Hugh, 28 Brooks, John, 14 Brodie, James, 47, 63 Bruce, Alexander, 52

Cameron, David, 32 Campbell, Ivie, 21, 32, 36, 52, 55, 57, 59 Camp, B. F., 29 Cabot, J. S., 11, 49, 60 Carter, Rufus, 17 Chapin, H. O., 15, 27 Collins, H. S., 20, 24, 36, 54, 55 Collins, A. L., 22 Crookshank, Y. Otty, 28 Craig, James, 40, 50, 51, 52, 61 Cus.h.i.+ng, J. P., 20

Dane, Nathan Jr., 12, 20, 28, 33, 39, 41, 43, 45, 49, 54, 59 Day, Horatio E., 17, 21, 37, 38, 39, 46, 47 Daws, Thomas & Son, 24, 26, 36, 40, 47, 50, 53, 55 Davidson, Thomas, 28 Denison, Richard L., 18, 19, 31 Dods, John, 18 Dods, Thomas, 23, 26, 46, 50 Drennan, James, 18 Drew, L., 30, 33, 48, 50, 51, 53, 63 Dunlop, John, 49

Forristall, Geo. D., 12 Fields, Thomas J., 12

Gilbert, H. G., 22 Girvan, Mr., 26 Glasgow, Lord, 36, 55, 57 Gordon, Geo., 19 Gray, John, 58 Gray, Robert, 15, 16, 28, 33, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 49, 59 Griswold, R. S., 43

Hatch, Thomas E., 18, 24, 37, 50 Harris, C. & S., 14, 18, 19, 31, 36, 43, 53, 58, 60, 62, 63 Hayes, T. M., 59 Hendrie, James, 11 Hoffman, Mr., 37 Hubbard, H. & R., 25 Hungerford & Brodie, 12, 17, 22, 38, 39, 47, 63 Hungerford, S. D., 13 Hurst, William, 22

Jardine, R., 28, 33

Kellogg, M. S., 20, 32, 42, 47, 62 Kilgour, John, 49, 50, 51, 52, 59 Kirkwood, Mr., 24

Lambie, John, 58 Lambie, Hugh, 58 Lawson, Peter, 42, 49, 50 Lincoln, W. S., 42, 49, 60 Logan, James, 23, 36, 40, 43, 47, 58, 60, 63 Logan, Robert, 22 Loomis, Byron, 39, 53, 58 Loring, Geo. B. 11, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 32, 39, 44, 50, 51, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61 Lyman, Geo. W., 19, 25, 54, 56

Ma.s.sachusetts Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 31, 32, 39, 42, 47, 48, 49, 52, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60 Martin, Capt. 50, 51 McNaughton, James, 48 McHenry, R., 37, 42 McGregor, Andrew, 28, 33 Meikle, John, 14, 21, 27, 44, 58 Meikle, James, 59 Morton, James, 35, 52 Murray, James, 44 Murdock, Mr., 17

Nye, E., 12, 21, 28, 37, 43, 45, 48, 55, 58

Oswald, Alexander, 20, 55 Oswald, Richard, 33 Otis, Ephraim, 16, 40

Parker, John 15, 16, 24, 32, 48, 54, 55 Parker, Mr., 36, 49, 61 Peabody, Geo., 31 Peters, H. H. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63 Penner, John, 19 Pearce, E. D., 19, 32 Peate, James, 48, 51 Pierce, T. W., 11, 48 Pond, C. M., 21, 22, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 39, 42, 44, 48, 53, 54, 56, 58, 61, 62 Portland, Duke of, 37, 55 Prentice, E. P., 14, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 41, 45, 46, 47

Randall, Capt., 15, 17, 19, 25, 33, 34, 41, 60 Reid, James, 39 Richmond, A., 23, 26, 28, 40, 46, 47, 50, 63 Richmond, George, 38, 60 Robbins, S. W., 26 Roger, Hugh, 41 Ross, R. L. 31 Rogers, John, 14, 16, 42, 43

Shepherd, R. D., 42 Smith, John C. 42 Smith, George G. 49, 52 Speares, Mr. 35 Stewart, Henry L., 13, 14, 21, 37, 38, 39, 42, 45, 47, 51, 53 Stetson, C. A., 15, 60, 61 Stone, Bela J., 17 Starr, John 17, 46 Struthers, Alexander, 30, 53 Sweetser, Luke, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 32, 58, 62

Thurber, H. N., 27, 54, 56 Todd, James, 37, 38 Todd, Thomas, 39, 46 Tredwell, A. M., 17, 20, 22, 29, 36, 38, 43, 45, 46, 47, 63 Trustees of State Reform School, Ma.s.s., 11

Wheeler, William F., 24 Walker, J. D., 16 Warren, N. H., 20, 42, 47 Ward, Samuel, 14, 20, 29 Ward, Mr., 41 Watson, William, 17, 20, 29, 35, 38, 46 Wilson, Hugh, 15 Wilson, David, 32 Wilson, Alex, 52, 60, 63

Young, James, 23, 60, 63 Young, Mr., 36, 52, 60, 61

PREFACE.

THE Committee appointed to examine and prepare for publication pedigrees of Ayrs.h.i.+re Stock, having completed their labors, offer the following as their Report.

In arranging the pedigrees, we have endeavored to render them simple and exact, and to trace each animal to a direct importation. In a few instances this latter has been impossible, and we have been obliged to be content with tracing the pedigrees to the herds of well known breeders, having their a.s.surances that the animals in question were thorough-bred Ayrs.h.i.+re.

Many breeders, who have taken the utmost pains, and have been at great expense to keep their herds pure, have not been careful to keep accurate records of the pedigrees of their stock, feeling that as long as they themselves were satisfied, their a.s.surances would be sufficient to convince purchasers. This course answered when there were but few cattle of this breed in the country, and the necessity of an organized effort to preserve the purity of the blood had not been recognized; but hereafter it is hoped that every one liberal enough to breed thorough-bred stock, will see the advantages and the necessity of a record of pedigrees, and a.s.sist in swelling the next edition of the work, to a size more nearly commensurate with the importance of the subject.

The Committee thought best to have a short history of the Ayrs.h.i.+res, together with the points given by the Ayrs.h.i.+re Agricultural a.s.sociation, printed as an introduction to the work, and applied to Sanford Howard, Esq., of Boston, who kindly consented to write such an article.

Mr. Howard's opportunities of studying this breed, both in Scotland and in this country have been such, that he is eminently fitted to write with authority on the subject. The Committee did not follow his suggestion and give in the Herd Book the lists of premiums taken by the animals at the various Agricultural Fairs, knowing that many of the premiums in this country have been awarded for want of compet.i.tion, and by judges not acquainted with the excellencies or the peculiarities of the breed. Should this Society ever hold exhibitions, a record of the premiums taken at them would be of great value to breeders in selecting animals for stock purposes.

HENRY H. PETERS, Southboro', Ma.s.s., } THOS. E. HATCH, Keene, N. H., }_Committee._ WM. BIRNIE, Springfield, Ma.s.s., }

INTRODUCTION.

THE breed of cattle now know as the Ayrs.h.i.+re, undoubtedly originated in the county of that name, in Scotland; but by what special means it was formed cannot be particularly told. Youatt (1835) says, "A century ago there was no such breed in Ayrs.h.i.+re or in Scotland;" and he asks, "Did the [present] Ayrs.h.i.+re cattle arise entirely from a careful selection of the native breed?" adding, "If they did it is a circ.u.mstance unparalleled in the history of agriculture. The native breed may be ameliorated by careful selection; its value may be incalculably increased; some good qualities may for the first time be developed; but yet there will be some resemblance to the original stock." A comparison of the modern breed with the description given by Aiton of the cattle which he says occupied Ayrs.h.i.+re fifty years before the time when he wrote (1806), will show that the difference is great. He says, "The cows kept in the districts of Kyle and Cunningham [districts of Ayrs.h.i.+re], were of a diminutive size, ill-fed, ill-shaped, and they yielded but a scanty return in milk; they were mostly of a black color, with stripes of white along the chine or ridge of their backs, about their flanks and on their faces. Their horns were high and crooked, * * * their pile [hair] was coa.r.s.e and open; and few of them yielded more than three or four Scotch pints [six to eight wine quarts] of milk a day."

Those who are acquainted with the Ayrs.h.i.+re cattle of to-day, will readily admit that they present a wide contrast with the old stock, according to the above description of the latter; and the suggestion of Youatt, that the present breed could not have arisen entirely by selection from the old, seems reasonable. It follows, then, that the Ayrs.h.i.+re, like the modern or "improved" Short Horn breed, originated in crossing. The question as to the breeds from which it was derived, will be briefly considered, although the attempt will not be made to give precise details on this point.

Various accounts represent that the Earl of Marchmont, some time between 1724 and 1740, introduced to his estates, in Berwicks.h.i.+re, some cattle, conjectured (their history was not positively known) to be of the Holderness or Teeswater breed, and that, not long afterwards, some of the stock was carried to estates belonging to the same n.o.bleman, in that part of Ayrs.h.i.+re called Kyle. But, perhaps, the main nucleus of the improved breed was the "Dunlop stock," so called, which appears to have been possessed by a distinguished family by the name of Dunlop, in the Cunningham District of Ayrs.h.i.+re, as early as 1780. This stock, it is said, was derived, at least in part, from animals imported from Holland.

The Dunlop cows soon became noted. Rawlin (as quoted by Youatt), who wrote in 1794, speaking of the cattle of Ayrs.h.i.+re, says, "They have another breed, called the Dunlop, which are allowed to be the best race for yielding milk in Great Britain, or Ireland, not only for large quant.i.ties, but also for richness and quality." This, though extravagant praise, perhaps, shows that the stock possessed remarkable qualities at that early day. It was, indeed, held in great esteem still earlier. In Youatt's Treatise, it is mentioned, when speaking of the cattle of Dumfries.h.i.+re, that the poet Burns, when he occupied a farm near the city of Dumfries, "not content with the Galloway breed, introduced some of the West-Country cows, which he thought would produce more milk." In the poet's published correspondence, allusion is made, in a letter dated November 13th, 1788, to a heifer which had been presented to him by the proprietor of Dunlop House, as "the finest quey in Ayrs.h.i.+re." Mrs.

Dunlop, it will be remembered, was a special friend and correspondent of the poet.[A]

Col. Le Couteur, in a paper on the Jersey or Alderney cow, published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, refers to a statement by Quayle, that the Ayrs.h.i.+re was a cross of the Short Horn and Alderney; and adds himself that "there is a considerable affinity between the two breeds." Rawlin also says, in reference to the Ayrs.h.i.+re breed, "It is said to be a mixture by bulls brought from the island of Alderney, with their own or the old race of cows." Martin says, "At some period or other there has evidently been a cross with the Durham or Holderness, and, perhaps, also with the Alderney." Professor Low, in his "Ill.u.s.trations of British Quadrupeds," says, "From all the evidence which, in the absence of authentic doc.u.ments, the case admits of, the dairy breed of Ayrs.h.i.+re 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."

So far, the authorities quoted have, doubtless, given the main facts in regard to the originals of the present Ayrs.h.i.+re cattle. But there is evidence that the present leading type of the breed was formed, in part, by an infusion of the blood of the Kyloe, or West-Highland breed. This appeared in the first instance, probably, in what has been called the Swinley variety. The facts, which the writer has obtained in Scotland in regard to it, are substantially as follows: Theophilus Parton, of Swinley Farm, near Dairy, Ayrs.h.i.+re, about forty to forty-five years ago, took great pains to establish a herd of what were deemed the _best_ Ayrs.h.i.+re cattle, into which he infused a strain of the West-Highland blood, the particular degree of which is not publicly or generally known. The Swinley stock differs from the older Ayrs.h.i.+re in having a shorter head, with more breadth across the eyes, more upright and spreading horns, more hair, and generally better const.i.tutions. They are also somewhat smaller boned than the old stock, though from their superior symmetry, and greater tendency to fatten, they are fully equal to the former in weight of carca.s.s when slaughtered.