6ZZ IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



should be grasped with the whole hand, the index finger and thumb press- 

 ing, as the hand closes, a little more firmly than the lower fingers, thus 

 forcing the milk downward instead of upward. Milking with the thumb 

 and one or two fingers, slipping them down the teat, is to be condemned, 

 since it is neither quicker nor easier than the whole hand way and calls 

 for the filthy practice of wetting the teats. Thoroughness means gettln;? 

 the last and richest drop. It is necessary to milk dry, all dairymen know, 

 if the cow is to be kept up with her milk. Rapidity of milking, unless it 

 be violent, stimulates the milk flow. 



Finally comes the treatment of the cow; it is of great importance, 

 with the nervous cow, perhaps of first importance. Singing of a boister- 

 ous kind, whistling, chattering, loud talking, to say nothing of rough han- 

 dling, certainly does not make the cow more comfortable and therefore 

 cannot be conducive to a full steady flow of milk. And do not treat the 

 cow to an indifferent milker every day and to irregular hours of milking. 

 Because of mere changing about of milking we have frequently noticed 

 in herds of fifteen or twenty cows a decrease of 10 per cent in a day's 

 milk. Let each cow become acquainted with her milker and let the 

 milker stick by her. 



All of these things — cleanliness, efficiency and careful treatment of 

 the cow — are matters of economy; for if all the cow has it to be gottea 

 from her, and the product is to be marketed in first class style, they must 

 receive attention. They must be taught the new milkers. 



MILK AS A BY-PRODUCT. 



Homestead. 

 An experiment conducted at the Iowa Experiment Station a few 

 years ago indicated that the cost of raising a steer from the time of birth 

 until two years old, or at least until he is ready for market, is about $5T). 

 This includes all the food eaten during the entire time, even the pasture, 

 reckoned at the prevailing market prices of foods. Sometimes we are 

 inclined to think that an animal at the age of two years old that is worth 

 $50 for beef is a fairly good one, and when marketed at this age, for 

 this money, it is clear that there is no great profit in the business. Tn 

 the experiment cited the animals sold for $12.20 over and above the en- 

 tire cost of feeding them through the whole period. This does not mean 

 that the only profits on feeding in this case was $12.20 per head, because 

 all foods fed during the entire period must be credited at their full 

 value. The farmer, therefore, has not only marketed his food at a profit, 

 but he has, in turn, a large amount of manure which may be returned to 

 the soil. 



The point that we have specially in mind, in this instance, is that 

 large profits were made from the milk which the dams of these steers 

 produced during the feeding period. The record of two cows in the herd 



