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IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



Fig. 6. Spraying the cows and feeding them soiling crops increases 

 their comfort and greatly increases production and profit. 



dry, for production is influenced as greatly by proper milking as 

 by proper breeding. After the milk has apparently all been drawn, 

 the udder should be rubbed and massaged, for this stimulates the 

 milk producing glands. Regularly manipulating the udder will add 

 to the persistency with which the cow milks and to the richness of 

 the milk, because the last drawn milk is richest in butter fat. 



Regularity: Regularity has been mentioned in several connec- 

 tions, and here it is sufficient to say that no one will be a very 

 successful dairy farmer who is not regular with every detail of the 

 work. 



Kindness: No farm animal responds so quickly to kindness as 

 the dairy cow. Harsh words, noise, and milk stools improperly 

 used always decrease the milk flow greatly. 



Grooming: Cows groomed will yield more than enough additional 

 milk and butter fat to pay for the ten or fifteen minutes of extra 

 labor daily, not to mention the difference in the cleanliness of the 

 milk and in their appearance. Grooming stimulates the circulation 

 of the blood and in this manner aids in food digestion and milk 

 secretion, as well as in general health. 



Watering: In winter cows should have drinking water that is 

 warmed and at all times pure, clean and fresh. The importance 

 of this is realized when it is remembered that about 8 7 per cent of 

 normal milk is water. A short time ago it was found that one of 

 the college Holstein cows which was producing 100 pounds of milk 

 per day was drinking from 200 to 250 pounds of luke warm water 

 per day. It is readily seen that if that cow had been forced to 

 drink ice water out of a tank, as many cows in this state are forced 

 to do, the milk flow would have been materially decreased. 



