Regularity of Milking. 13 



cient in many instances to give rise to inflammations 

 of a serious character. Clean milking is one of 

 the most important aids in keeping- up and pro- 

 longing the flow of milk. 



Regularity and frequency of milhing. — While the 

 process of milk secretion is a continuous one, it is 

 not entii'ely uniform. There is reason to believe 

 that the secretion is considerably more rapid while 

 the operation of milking is going on, and that a con- 

 siderable portion of the whole amount is then secreted. 

 On the other hand, the distension of the milk ducts 

 and reservoirs by milk already secreted acts as more 

 or less of a check upon the activity of the follicles, 

 and so lessens the rapidity of secretion. While for 

 these reasons it would be inferred that frequent 

 milking would lead to increased secretion, the limits 

 of such increased secretion are' moderate, and beyond 

 a certain point no increased flow of milk is secured 

 by increasing the frequency of the milking periods. 

 In all cases where the udder becomes unduly dis- 

 tended with milk between periods, an increased flow 

 will be secured by milking oftener. The common 

 practice is to milk twice in the twenty -four hours, 

 and the nearer the time can be divided into equal pe- 

 riods the more uniform will be the secretion. Where 

 more frequent milking is practiced the same principle 

 will hold. Not only is regularity in the period from 

 morning to night of importance, but regularity in 

 the time of milking from day to day is equally so. 

 A difference of an hour in the time of milking will 

 frequently make a difference of 10 per cent in the 



