MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE 219 



any time. The heifer should be accustomed to the stable 

 where she is to be tied for some time before she calves. It is 

 best to tie her for a month or more before she freshens in the 

 stall she is to occupy when in milk, and to make a point of 

 handling her daily. A careful man should have the milking of 

 her at first, and must go about it carefully and without exciting 

 her. Very little trouble will ever be experienced under such 

 conditions. The men who care for cows should always 

 move about among them gently and not startle them by 

 sudden movements or loud talking. 



Methods of Milking. Milking is generally considered 

 such a simple operation that any common laborer is supposed 

 to be able to milk. However, there is an immense difference 

 in milkers, and one of the most difficult parts of carrying on 

 dairy farming is securing competent men to do this work. 

 One milker may be able to get 20 per cent more milk than an- 

 other, one may dry the cow within a few months, while another 

 may keep her in milk the entire year. The milker should not 

 be allowed to excite or worry the cows by loud talking or cru- 

 elty or abuse of any kind. 



The secretion of milk is involuntary, but may be affected 

 indirectly by excitement of any kind. Even the presence of a 

 stranger or a dog at milking time is sufficient to affect the 

 milk yield of many cows. The changing of milkers results in 

 some loss for a few milkings, unless the new milker is better 

 than the former. 



A cow should be milked quietly and quickly. A cow is 

 largely a creature of habit. If usually fed at the time of 

 milking, she cannot be milked satisfactorily until she has her 

 feed. Special care should be taken to secure all of the strip- 

 pings. The first milk drawn may contain as little as 1 per cent 



