Milking

Those who milk cows should be well looked after, and in large butter and cheese making dairies some trusty person should always follow the milkers to watch their proceedings and to ascertain whether the cows have been well milked. If a cow has been ill-treated she will leave off eating, toss up her head and become restless while she is being milked. She would not give down her milk freely if she had been misused by the person who was milking, and probably several pints of milk would be retained after he had left her.

Few persons are fully aware of the great loss sustained by cowkeepers in consequence of their not employing good milkers.

It is very important indeed to ensure the certainty of having every cow well stripped for two ostensible reasons. One is that the last pint or two of the strippings is a great deal richer than that which is first milked. Analysts inform us that it is ten times as rich in butter and cheese producing qualities. But another very strong reason why cows should be thoroughly well milked is, that they will very soon fall off in the produce of their usual quantity if all their milk be not drawn from them. They will gradually produce less and less. The portion left by careless milkers seems to be absorbed into the system, and nature will continue to generate no more than what has been abstracted. If this be the case, and some milk be left every day, of course the cow soon becomes dry. Observant men have frequently noted this fact, while the owners of the herd have been unconscious of it, and have wondered why so little butter and cheese have been produced, and why it was that their cows have become dry at the end of six or seven months, while their neighbours' cows have continued to give a pretty good quantity till within two months of their calving.

It is not the usual custom to milk cows more than twice a day, but it has been found that they will give a larger quantity if milked three times.

However, it is not generally thought worth while to trouble either the servants or the cows during the middle of the day for what extra quantity could be produced by this practice.

It will appear from what has been stated, that kind treatment and clean milking are essential requisites in the management of a dairy.

Cleanliness with regard to milkers is indispensable. Their hands must be washed perfectly clean, and should the cow's udder be soiled it must be washed clean also.

If all persons employed in dairy work are clean and careful, their butter and cheese are sure to be good.