It may be stated, in conclusion, that for purely dairy purposes the Ayrshire cow deserves the first place. In consequence of her small, symmetrical, and compact body, combined with a well-formed chest and a capacious stomach, there is little waste, comparatively speaking, through the respiratory system; while at the same time there is very complete assimilation of the food, and thus she converts a very large proportion of her food into milk. So remarkable is this fact, that all dairy farmers who have any experience on the point, agree in stating that _an Ayrshire cow generally gives a larger return of milk for the food consumed than a cow of any other breed_. The absolute quality may not be so great, but it is obtained at a less cost; and this is the point upon which the question of profit depends. The best milkers which have been known in this country were grade Ayrshires, larger in size than the pure bloods, but still sufficiently high grades to give certain signs of their origin. This grade would seem to possess the advantage of combining, to some extent, the two qualities of milking and adaptation to beef; and this is no small recommendation of the stock to farmers situated as American farmers are, who wish for milk for some years and then to turn over to the butcher. THE JERSEY. These cattle are now widely known in this country. Many of them have been imported from an island of the same name in the British Channel, near the coast of France, and they may now be considered, for all practical purposes, as fully acclimated. They were first introduced, upward of thirty years ago, from the channel islands, Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey. This race is supposed to have been originally derived from Normandy, in the northern part of France. The cows have been long celebrated for the production of very rich milk and cream, but till within the last twenty-five or thirty years they were comparatively coarse, ugly, and ill-shaped. Improvements have been very marked, but the form of the animal is still far from satisfying the eye.