MILKING. 405 



school could be established to show people how to treat their 

 cows, and get the. most milk, and to the best advantage, out of 

 them. As every dairyman ought to know how a cow should be 

 milked, either by ones, twos, or fifties, we have some sugges- 

 tions to make on the proper and best modes of doing it, both 

 in the treatment of the cows, and the conduct of their milkers. 



It has been much too common a way, where several cows are 

 kept, in the grazing season, to drive them into yards, more or 

 less filthy from their droppings, half the time muddy under foot, 

 the cows hunching each other about, frequently without sheds 

 for shelter in bad weather, and doing up the work in a helter- 

 skelter way, as time, chance, or opportunity may offer. In the 

 winter season they are confined in filthy stables, frequently 

 unbedded, poorly ventilated, and terribly noisome with the odors 

 and ammonia from urine, and the foetid breath of the cattle 

 within them. 



Happily, we believe a better system is prevailing, and milk- 

 ing, among our better farmers and housekeepers, is usually done 

 in a cleanly way; but not always to the advantage that it might 

 be, in having all the conveniences for doing it in the best man- 

 ner. "We object to milking in open yards, where the cows are 

 liable to interruption by each other, or by storms, and often be- 

 coming restive by accidents not altogether under the control 

 of their milkers. After long practice in the management of 

 cows for dairy purposes, and their keeping arranged into a 

 regular system, we are satisfied of the decided advantage of 

 milking them, in all seasons, under shelter, and in the stalls 

 which, during the winter months, they regularly occupy. 



Thus, we say, in a well regulated dairy, cows, in every season, 

 should be driven into their stables, or sheds, and secured in stalls 

 by ties, chains, or stanchels, for milking. They are thus under 

 control, and every animal is secure from injury or annoyance by 

 her neighbors. Each milker should be furnished with a stool 



