Vermont Dairymen's Association. 91 



Mrs. Howie: — Because we don't wish to take all the milk, 

 fearing milk fever. It might put the cow in a state of collapse. 

 We leave a little and let it gather. 



I am going to tell you something I learned from the old 

 country. Some years ago, in the early stages of my dairying 

 when I knew a cow so well that I was satisfied to look at her 

 through the fence and not go on the other side ; when I thought 

 that no woman should set her foot in the cow barn without she 

 went to call the men to dinner, and then to get out as fast as 

 she could ; when I believed that a woman's sole mission was to 

 wash milk pans, and see to the butter, and occasionally to ask 

 her husband if he made a good sum on it; when I believed all 

 those things and got a little tired of dairying, I began to think 

 there might be some lines in life a little bit brighter than wash- 

 ing milk pans, sending butter to market and having the money 

 go into another pocket. So one day I had a streak of aristocracy 

 come over me and I wanted to learn something. I thought that 

 I would make my farm just a little bit different from somebody 

 else's farm, and that if I had a dairymaid that would be the 

 proper thing. So I advertised in the paper, a city paper, — 

 "Wanted : A capable dairymaid." Then I sat down to wait for 

 the responses. We had a woman on the farm, whose husband 

 worked on the farm, while she did the house work. She came 

 over with a bit of paper in her hand, and said "I see you have 

 advertised for a dairymaid. I was a dairymaid in the old coun- 

 try. Could I be your dairymaid?" And I looked at her. She 

 wasn't a handsome woman and 1 wanted something real striking. 

 I had an idea of a younger woman with a little white apron and 

 cap, and shining milk pail, that would make all the city people so 

 envious that maybe they would buy the farm, and I would get 

 off. I went to the city and a lot of foreign women answered. 

 Some of them looked hard and some didn't, and I was fond of 

 my cows, and mind you I only had three little Jerseys. Fancy 

 a woman with three cows advertising for a dairymaid. I did 

 wish I could be a little nearer them and I thought if I had a 

 dairymaid it wouldn't be so much harm for a woman to step into 

 the barn ; so that is why I advertised. I was pretty nearly dis- 

 couraged, after eight or nine of these people had come and I 

 didn't see one face that I wanted to trust my Jerseys with, — 

 but finally the bell rang and as I was showing one applicant out, 

 there stood a nice, bonnie, sunny Scotch girl. Yes, she was all 

 that, sweet and wholesome ; you could have trusted anything to 

 that girl and she held in her hand my advertisement, and she 

 said "Madam, I came to apply for this position." And I looked 

 at her, and of course the less you know the more airs you put on ; 

 and I said "Are you sure you are capable?" "I think so, 



