746 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



mechanically a lightener of the ration — as for example, wheat bran 

 or distillers' dried grains — it may be expected to be physiologically 

 satisfactory. If, then a trained judgment and a due regard to econ- 

 omy enter into the foundation of the ration, one cannot go far 

 astray. Five years' work at Burlington with restricted and with 

 heavy grain rations of many sorts, as well as the study of the results 

 of similar work elsewhere, leads me to believe that, given : 



1. A class of cows making 250 or more 1 pounds of butter, 



2. Plentiful supplies of early cut hay, carrying some clover, or if 

 it can be grown, of alfalfa hay and of mature corn silage or apple 

 pomace silage, 



3. Grain prices as they rule to-day; a six-pound ration of judici- 

 ously chosen by-products is in the long run as close an approxima- 

 tion to the best as we are likely to arrive at in this vale of mystery 

 and doubt. 



What has research discovered of importance to the milker f 



1. An apparently successful and practicable milking machine. 



2. Further insight into the losses due to incomplete milking. 



I saw in December, 1904, and again last Monday, a milking ma- 

 chine which had now been in practical operation in a large herd 

 for about three years, with apparent success. It is also in use in 

 several other dairies. This machine seems simple, is readily 

 cleaned, does not irritate the cow, strips better than does the aver- 

 age milker, though after stripping is advisable; is rapid in its work, 

 but is likely to prove costly in initial expense. It goes without say- 

 ing that a mechanism of this kind fills a long-felt want. If, as it 

 would seem, its inventor can really cry "Eureka," it is a marked 

 triumph of applied science. 



I just remarked "strips better than the average milker." It is 

 well known that the average milker gets less milk than he who does 

 a thorough job, that incomplete milking means not only direct but 

 indirect loss, not only an immediate lessening of the fat yield, but 

 tends towards drying the cow. A Danish scientist has recently de 

 veloped a special system of udder manipulation, a sort of massage 

 of the mammary gland, as it were, which it is claimed augments the 

 flow and which has a sound basis physiologically. Its conduct in- 

 volves three manipulations, each thrice repeated or until no more 

 milk is obtained; first the pressure of the quarter on each side 

 against each other thrice repeated, followed by removal of the milk; 

 second, the pressure of the glands together on each side, the fore- 

 quarter first being manipulated and then the hind quarters, followed 

 by removal of the milk; and, third, the fore quarters are pressed 

 between hand and body, the hands holding the teats loosely, then the 

 hind quarters also, followed by milking. 



Trials of the scheme made at the Wisconsin and New York sta- 

 tions afforded a daily average increase per cow of a pound of milk 

 and two ounces of butter. The "after-milk" was very rich in fat, 

 testing about 10 per cent. This after-milking takes not to exceed 

 five minutes' time — often less than this. The two ounces of butter 

 may be held at a low estimate to be worth two cents. This would 

 be a fair pay for five minutes' work, 24 cents an hour and the 



