CATTLE THE DAIRY. 841 



when the cows will be dripping, and you can not without great 

 trouble tie up a lot of cows unless they are accustomed to it 

 daily, and the flies will not be so troublesome in the stable as 

 in a lot. This stable should be conveniently arranged with a 

 manure ditch, and short partitions between the cows, coming 

 back far enough so that they can not disturb each other, but 

 not so far as to be in the way of the milker. I would always 

 have stanchions to hold the cows while being milked, but would 

 fasten with rope and snap for the night. These stanchions can 

 be fastened to a long strip so that a number can be closed at 

 once, which will save time. The stable should be wide enough 

 to allow a passage-way back of the manure ditch, and shelves 

 for the buckets and stools. 



The milking stable must be kept clean if you expect first- 

 class butter, for milk will be tainted if foul odors are allowed 

 here. There should always be a little bedding in the ditch to 

 absorb the urine, and the floor on which the cows stand should 

 be cleaned and fresh littered before each milking. A barrel of 

 land plaster should always be kept in the cow-stable, to be used 

 as a disinfectant, as it will not only keep the stable sweet but 

 add to the value of the manure. 



Milking. The milking should be done as quickly as pos- 

 sible and at the same time gently. No striking or yelling at 

 the cows should be allowed ; and it is best that the same per- 

 son as far as possible milk the same cows. A cow will give 

 considerably more milk if quiet and undisturbed, and milked 

 rapidly, than if excited and worried. 



Milking three times a day is recommended by some writers 

 and practiced in some dairies, but with the exception of now 

 and then a cow that gives an extraordinary amount of milk I 

 should doubt if it would pay, as to drive cows up in the heat 

 of the day and milk them would be a disagreeable job. I have 

 for many years practiced milking but once a day, when the 

 cows were giving but from four to six quarts a day, as is often 

 the case in the winter. It takes but little if any longer to 

 milk the cow once for the day than each milking would if she 

 was milked twice, as most of the time is spent in waiting for 



