82 



This makes an increase of i It), butter per week in favor 

 of grooming, which helps to pay for the extra work. 



Whitewashing, at least twice a year, acts not only as a 

 disinfectant but increases the light in the stable. It is a 

 comparatively easy job if a spray pump is used. 



MILKING AND MILKING MACHINES. 



There is no doubt but that the greatest trouble of milk 

 producers is to get good milkers men or women. I say 

 women, even at the risk of being called un-American, because 

 I deem it no unwomanly work, provided the stables and their 

 surroundings are kept as clean as they ought to be, and because 

 women, as a rule, really make better milkers than men. They 

 have more sympathy with the cows, as a rule; they under- 

 stand, as Ex-Governor Hoard says, the "motherhood" of the 

 cow better than men. 



Milking is not a popular job because it is so confining; 

 it has got to be done at regular hours, and no political or 

 social engagement may interfere with it. This cannot be 

 helped, but what can be helped by the milk producer is to 

 pay their men (or women) decent wages and to refrain from 

 running in milking as an extra chore instead of making it 

 part and parcel of the day's work. A rough, noisy milker 

 should not be allowed to stay a single day and cleanliness 

 should be encouraged by providing a clean stable and clean 

 surroundings, as well as water and towels for washing the 

 hands. 



The fact is that but few milk producers realize the im- 

 portance of having the right kind of milkers, not only to 

 secure pure, healthy milk, but to secure a large yield. Few 

 men realize the necessity of the milker making friends with 

 a cow in fact to get her to "adopt" him in order to make 

 her give all the milk possible. 



And this is the reason why I have been and am a little 

 skeptical as to the possibilities of milking machines, so much 

 so that I do not propose to illustrate and explain the various 

 efforts in that line, but refer investigators to Dr. Stohmann's 

 book where a full list will be found. Milking is not 

 a pure mechanical work, and the cow compared with a ma- 

 chine is but a lame simile after all. 



In my estimation, the best milking machine is a good, 



