Duration of Flow 39 



foods, and that the bowels are kept free and open. 

 Ordinarily, milk does not appear in the udder more 

 than a few hours before parturition. It is usually 

 abundant as soon as parturition takes place, and its 

 regular and complete removal, having due regard for 

 the condition of the animal, is a very efficient means 

 of establishing a lar,ge flow. And if there are no 

 troubles attending parturition and the establishment 

 of the milk flow, the animal may be fed liberally as 

 soon as the milk has lost its colostrum character, 

 and under favorable conditions of health, ood and 

 treatment, the flow of milk will increase for two to 

 four weeks after the calf is dropped, at which time 

 it ordinarily has reached its maximum. From this 

 time, favorable conditions continuing, the flow of 

 milk may be kept very nearly constant for several 

 months. If the cow is to produce a calf regularly 

 each year, she will naturally be bred about three 

 months after calving. It is not at all uncommon for 

 cows to show a quite marked diminution in the milk 

 flow immediately after service, but the best cows will 

 continue to yield milk with very little diminution 

 until the foetus begins to grow and make demands 

 upon the mother at the fifth or sixth month of preg- 

 nancy. From this time until the seventh month there 

 will be a regular and quite rapid diminution in the 

 flow until the tendency to go dry is strong, as has 

 already been said, at about the seventh month. 



The operation of milking. The production of .milk 

 is also dependent to a considerable extent upon the 

 operation of milking. A skilful milker will get ap- 



