72 ABNORMAL MILK 



concerning cleanliness, they seldom yield milk from which a 

 first-class quality of butter cannot be produced. In practice 

 calving does not always occur at regular intervals. Several 

 instances have come within the authors' notice where cows have 

 been in milk for two years or more without coming in fresh. 

 Such a condition happens quite frequently on small farms, where 

 the cows kept are so few that it is deemed impracticable to keep a 

 bull. As a consequence cows are not served at the proper time, 

 and great irregularities in calving are introduced. 



At times it also happens that cows become barren. In such 

 a case they are usually milked as long as they will produce even a 

 very small quantity of milk. Milk produced under such con- 

 ditions is likely to become abnormal in character. * It may 

 remain normal with a slight increase in the fat-content. The 

 abnormal milk, so often complained of, is usually the result 

 of similar circumstances. It is a common belief that milk 

 yielded by such animals always contains a high fat-content, but 

 it may contain very little fat, and may be salty. It may also 

 appear normal, and the cream when separated appear viscous 

 and dead. Boggild states that at the creamery the milk from 

 one barren cow has more than once produced difficult churning. 



Milk from Spayed Cows. H. Lennat has given this kind of 

 milk considerable study. He finds that milk from spayed cows 

 may vary in quality to the same extent as milk from normal cows. 

 The solids of milk, as a rule, increase as the spayed cow advances 

 in the milk-giving period. This is especially noticeable in the 

 fat, sugar, and casein. Such milk is considered to be of extra 

 good quality, and is recommended as being especially suitable 

 for infant-feeding. 



Milk from Sick Cows. Too much cannot be said against the 

 use of milk from sick cows. As soon as the cows decline in health, 

 the quantity is noticeably decreased, and the quality is usually 

 abnormal. The kind of milk yielded varies with different cows 

 and different diseases, but it is interesting to note from the 

 study of this subject, by several men, that the milk-secreting 

 glands are quickly affected by disease and are unable to perform 

 their proper functions. Even a slight derangement of the 



