200 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



A Device for a Self-Sucking Cow. It is not uncommon for cows to form the 

 habit of drawing their own milk a habit which is difficult to break up and, unless it can 

 be prevented by some device, will render the animal worthless, as far as milk-production is 

 concerned. There are many simple devices to prevent this practice that the ingenuity of the 

 farmer might suggest. The two following have proved quite effectual for this purpose: An 

 ordinary headstall is put on the cow, with a ring under the chin ; a surcingle is then put 

 around the body of the cow, just behind the shoulders, with a ring underneath. Then attach 

 a stout bar of hard wood (not large or heavy) at either end to both rings, so that it will reach 

 from the ring under the chin to the ring in the surcingle, leaving three or four inches of 

 perpendicular length in a strap or light chain between the ring under the chin and the end of 

 the stick to which it is attached. This will not interfere with the animal s feeding or 

 drinking, but will prevent her reaching her nose to her udder. Another device is thus 

 described by a farmer who has found it very useful: 



&quot; Cut a piece of tug from an old harness, of sufficient length to go around the cow s nose, 

 about three inches above her mouth. Split the tug out upon one side for about eight inches, 

 and drive wrought nails so that the heads will rest against the inner surface of the other half 

 of the tug. By means of a strap, which passes over the cow s head, this barbed tug will be 

 secured to the bridge of her nose. The moment she attempts to draw her milk the points of 

 the nails will come in contact with her udder, and thus be a complete preventive.&quot; 



Driving Cows from Pasture. Cows that are worried by dogs in being driven 

 from the pasture, or whipped, shouted at, and hurried by a thoughtless and brutal driver, are 

 in no condition to yield milk of the best quality or quantity. They should always be driven 

 quietly, and never faster than a walk. &quot;With their udders distended with milk, as those of 

 good milkers would necessarily be, it would cause discomfort and pain to be obliged to go 

 faster than a walk; besides, by hurrying cows under such circumstances, especially in warm 

 weather, there will be a liability of their blood and milk becoming overheated, and such milk 

 is not only unfit for use, but it will injure other milk with which it comes in contact. 



Let the cows always be driven quietly and at an ordinary walking gait to pasture and 

 from it, if you wish to obtain the best quality of milk, and also keep the cows gentle and 

 quiet; for even with all the other essentials of success in dairying, if this rule be ignored, the 

 best results cannot be attained. First-class dairy products cannot be made from diseased 

 milk. Farmers and dairymen generally are too careless and indifferent in this respect, and 

 permit their cows to be dogged and hurried from the pasture to the milking yard without 

 the least thought of the injury that will inevitably result from such a practice. 



Milking, etc. The following on milking, from Willard s Practical Dairy Husbandry, 

 is so much in accordance with our own views that we quote it verbatim: 



&quot; Farmers generally have the impression that when milch cows have wintered well and 

 are fairly out to grass there need be but little care or attention given to animals, and that then 

 in their herds they have a fountain that is to supply good, pure milk simply by drawing it, 

 not much matter how or when. 



It is true, people understand that where cows are milked with great irregularity, or are 

 subjected to any extraordinary brutal treatment such as sundry kicks in the udder with a 

 heavy boot they will yield unprofitable results, since the consequence of such management 

 forces itself almost immediately upon the attention. But it is not those things that come so 

 plainly under the eye of the observer, concerning which I propose to speak. If an angry 

 man kicks his cow in the udder, some of the blood-vessels of the part will probably be 

 ruptured, and the bloody milk which flows from the teats will speak more forcibly than any 

 words of mine; but if he kicks her in the ribs, or mauls her with a milking-stool upon the 

 hips and back, the consequences may not be so immediately apparent, yet that damage is 



