which consists of two boards with half-round notches, which when placed 

 together fit around the doe's neck, the lower board is fastened securely, 

 while the upper one may be fixed to lift up or down, so as to admit or 

 release the doe. Other similar methods can be used and will suggest them- 

 selves to those accustomed to milking cows. 



Before milking the two teats (the milch goat has but two teats) and 

 the udder should be washed off with clean water and dried with a clean 

 cloth, also strip the udder a few times from above downward. The person 

 milking should see that the hands are perfectly clean and that the milk 

 pail has been properly scalded and aired. The milking should under no cir- 

 cumstances be done in a dirty place and should never be done in the stalls 

 or in the barn unless a separate part is partitioned off for the milking 

 bench. The buck should not be allowed near where the milking is done, as 

 his odor, which is peculiar to only the bucks of the milch goats, is apt 

 to be absorbed by the milk, giving it an unpleasant, strong taste. 



Regularity in milking is very important, and when does are "fresh" it 

 it sometimes necessary to milk them three times a day, for if allowed to go 

 too long at a time, the udder might become caked and the flow of milk 

 would then decrease rapidly. A disregard for this feature will sometimes 

 prove disastrous to a good milk-producing doe. 



As a rule, milch goats are very gentle and of a kind disposition when 

 handled and cared for so far as possible by the same person, and conduct 

 themselves with extaordinary willingness toward the one who takes their 

 milk in the matter of gratifying the whims of the suckling kids or of the 

 person who milks them. The milking should be done with regard to gentle- 

 ness; if abused, they don't forget it, neither do they forget a kindness 

 shown them. The strokes and tugs should be performed gently, and the 

 milk is drawn best by the ordinary stroke directed from above downward. 



LOCATION OF GOAT DAIRIES 



GOAT dairies, without a doubt, will in a few years be distributed over 

 nearly all parts of the United States. Good milk is an article of diet 

 wanted in nearly every home in our country, and no other animal 

 will produce so good a quality and so large a quantity at so small a cost 

 as the milch goat. 



That goats' milk is a very valuable medicinal food for infants, invalids, 

 and convalescents, is a well known fact published by our best medical 

 practitioners. The cost of starting a small milch goat dairy need not be 

 very great and it would be worth the while of our physicians to lend such 

 an enterprise their support. Milch goat dairies are meeting with great 

 success wherever established in the towns and villages of all Europe. Why 

 should they not do so in this country? Our people are educated and know 

 a good thing when they see it, and the only way to^convince people of the 

 superior merits of goats' milk is for them to try it. The people of our 

 country want the best of everything, and the richest, purest, and healthiest 

 milk is produced only by milch goats. 



A few milch goats can be kept most anywhere, as there is nothing ob- 



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