FEED AND CARE OF THE DAIRY COW 405 



the roughages and prior to milking, as the cows then often seem more 

 contented and eat the roughage at their leisure after they have finished 

 the more toothsome part of the ration. Hay and other dry forages are 

 usually not fed till after milking, because they fill the air with dust. 

 Silage, turnips, cabbage, or other feeds with a marked odor should be 

 given only after milking, tho when the barn is well-ventilated corn 

 silage of good quality may often be fed before milking, along with the 

 concentrates, without tainting the milk. 



658. Regularity and kindness. For the best results with dairy cows, 

 as with other farm animals, they should be treated with kindness at 

 all times, and regularity in feeding and care should be observed. 

 The highest yielding cows are usually of nervous temperament, and, 

 especially with such animals, excitement often causes a sharp decrease 

 in yield. Cows being driven should not be hurried and attendants should 

 never strike or otherwise abuse them. 



Good dairymen now realize the fact brought to public attention by 

 W. D. Hoard of Wisconsin that dairying is based on the maternity 

 of the cow, and treat their animals accordingly. As Haecker writes, 13 

 ' l If you so handle the cows that they are fond of you, you have learned 

 one of the most important lessons that lead to profitable dairying. 

 ... A cow's affection for the calf prompts the desire to give it milk; 

 if you gain her affection she will desire to give you milk." 



Changes in the daily routine which do not unduly disturb cows ap- 

 parently have no great effect on their yield. It is always desirable 

 to have the same man milk each cow at every milking. However, a 

 change will usually not affect the yield of milk markedly, if the new 

 man is as good a milker as the former one. Grisdale of the Ottawa 

 Experiment Farms 14 found that irregularity in the intervals between 

 milkings slightly reduced the quantity and quality of the milk. When 

 the changes were not sudden, the effect due to the difference in the 

 length of the intervals between the milkings was negligible. 



While milking is usually regarded as a simple task which anyone 

 can do, there may be a great difference in the returns which different 

 milkers get from the same cow. A cow should be milked quietly 

 and briskly with the dry hand. The milker should be careful to milk 

 each cow dry and get all the strippings, for the last-drawn milk may 

 contain 10 times as much fat as that drawn first. (553) The "Hege- 

 lund" method of manipulating the cow's udder after nearly all the 

 milk has been drawn, so as to bring down all remaining traces, was 

 strongly advocated by some. Trials at the New York (Cornell) and 

 the Wisconsin Stations 15 show that there is no material advantage in 

 this method over milking by the ordinary method, provided the milker 

 is careful to perform his task thoroly and milk the cows dry. 



"Minn. Bui. 130. 



"Ottawa Expt. Farms, Ept. 1901, 1902. 



16 N. Y. (Cornell) Bui. 213; Wis. Ept. 1902. 



