842 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



her to give down the milk and in stripping. With scales in the 

 stable you can soon settle the question, and if you find as much 

 milk can be had by milking once a day it is wise to adopt the 

 plan. I greatly prefer a one-legged stool, as if the cow moves 

 a little you can lean and keep near without lifting it. 



Regular hours for milking are important, as the cows will 

 give more milk than if sometimes milked early and at others 

 late. If accustomed to milk at seven o'clock in the evening and 

 six in the morning, and you occasionally vary to five at night 

 and not till seven the next morning, the scales will reveal the 

 fact that the extra milk in the morning will not make up for 

 the loss at night. If you find you have a fractious, kicking 

 cow, or one that milks hard, dispose of her at once, even at a 

 loss. To whip a cow in the stable will often excite all the 

 others and reduce the amount of milk from each of them. 



There are times when the cows are liable to cracked teats, 

 particularly in the spring or fall, and especially when the calves 

 are sucking. Prompt attention to the teats at the first sign of 

 soreness will save much trouble. Always keep in the stable 

 some good salve for the teats. I prefer vaseline to any thing 

 I have ever used; but mutton-tallow or glycerine is good. If 

 the teats seem tender, or show any sign of cracks, moisten the 

 palms of the hands with a little of one of these preparations, 

 and it will soften the teats, and in many instances cure them 

 in a day or two. 



I think the plan of washing the teats in milk a filthy .prac- 

 tice, and that in cold weather it is likely to make them crack. 

 There should always be a towel in the stable, and a basin or 

 bucket, to be used for washing the bag if any cow gets it 

 soiled, and it should, after washing, be dried with the towel, 

 as, unless this is done, the dirty water is likely to drip into 

 the milk. 



Milking Tubes. I have never seen milking tubes that 

 I should be willing to use regularly, or that could draw the milk 

 from a cow as rapidly as a good milker, but I should not be 

 willing to be without a set of them. Occasionally, with the 

 best of care, a cow's teats will become so cracked and inflamed 



