68 THE LADIES. 



of the husband. The cows must be milked twice a 

 day, and we want a little aid from yon, as wages are 

 high, and the mower must not long be detained. As 

 we are sometimes kept late in the field, we hope to find 

 all the cows milked on our return ; but milk them 

 properly, or they may better stand till our return. 



Let no small children enter the yard at the time of 

 milking. Let not the cows be disturbed at night, but 

 approach them with kind words. If you scold them, 

 or whip them, you may be cheated of half your milk. 

 After you have brushed the dirt from the udder, and 

 seated yourself on the right side of the cow, grasp the 

 teats, one in each hand, near their extremity. Squeeze 

 gently at first, or the cow may be pained and start 

 away : after a few squeezes you may venture all your 

 strength. In about half a minute, if the cow has been 

 well bred, the milk will flow as fast as you can possi- 

 bly draw it from the teats. Now let nothing interrupt 

 your labor. Squeeze the teat and draw it down at 

 the same moment ; and, at every relaxation of your 

 hand for more milk in the teat, press up your hand 

 against the bag and this will have a tendency to bring 

 all the milk out of the udder: it is an imitation of the 

 butting of the calf against the bag. 



You must not stop to speak nor to be spoken to until 

 your cow is finished. If one speaks to you, the milk 

 streaming into your pail makes so much noise you stop 

 in order to hear ; then the milk, which began to flow 

 so freely, goes back again into the ducts that supply 

 the udder, and you lose your opportunity. Like the 

 sap of the maple, you must take it when it flows, or 

 its juices go to enlarge the tree : so a cow, half milked, 

 will gain more flesh, at the cost of your milk and cream. 

 Move the udder, at the close of milking, in every di- 

 rection, to be sure you have all the milk ; but do not 

 spend a long while in stripping lest you get the cow 

 into a lazy habit of ekeing out the richest portion of 

 her bounty. 



