

DAIRYING 29 



At the beginning of the lactation period the weight of the 

 morning milk was a little greater and the per cent of fat somewhat 

 less than the night milk, but on certain days both the weight and 

 the test of the milk varied considerably at both milkings from the 

 average figures for the month. This cow was milked throughout, 

 the year in the way and at the times each day that the cows are 

 milked on the average farm and the figures give a fair representa- 

 tion of results that will be obtained under such conditions. 



E. Number of Milkings in One Day. 



181 The practice of milking cows twice each day is nearly 

 universal. Some cows giving large quantities of milk and others 

 during the beginning of the lactation period are milked three times 

 in 24 hours. 



182. An experiment was made with 8 cows by Backhaus** 

 in which the cows were milked twice a day for one week, and four 

 times a day the following week. A comparison of the weights and 

 analyses of the milk during these two periods showed that 10% 

 more milk and 6% more butter fat was obtained by milking four 

 times each day. Hittcher found that with fresh milking cows 

 6.3% more milk and 6.8% more butter fat was obtained by milking 

 three as compared with two times a day. Fleischmann tound that 

 when the day was divided into periods of 9 hours between night 

 and morning milkings, 8}/2 hours between morning and noon, and 

 6y 2 hours between noon and night milkings, that the following 

 average figures per cow were obtained during a six months' record 

 of a herd: 



Morning Noon Night Milking 



Milk, pounds 8.5 6.7 5.1 



Fat per cent 2.7 3.0 3.7 



Hours preceding milking 9 6^ 



The last and the richest milk was obtained after the shortest 

 period of time between milkings. This is in accordance with the 

 usual observations, but it has shown that the evening milk may be 

 richer than the morning milk even where the time elapsed before 



** Kirchner Milchwirtschaft. 



