384 MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 



making. Milk fat, or butter fat, is the fatty or oily part 

 of milk. It is explained more fully two paragraphs below. 

 283. Quantity of Production. Some instances of high- 

 producing cows have been given in earlier chapters. The 

 farmer ought to know just how many pounds of milk each 

 of his cows gives each year. It will not do to guess at it. 

 Many a cow gives a foaming pail too largely foam at 



BUTTER MAKING OUTFIT. 



the first of a period, and wins golden opinions, but falls 

 off sooner than the milker notes, or is dry for an unprofit- 

 ably long period. The farmer should have a set of dairy 

 scales suspended behind the cows, and a '''record sheet" 

 fastened to the wall. The best way, then, is to weigh and 

 record each cow's milk at every milking, and find the 

 totals for each month. The little time needed for this is 

 more than repaid, merely by the added interest taken by 

 the milkers in their work. But fairly accurate knowledge 

 of the cows' yield may be secured, if milk is weighed only 

 once a week, both night and morning, on a fixed day. 



