230 DAIRY CATTLE AND MILK PRODUCTION 



between milking by omitting one milking each day. After 

 a few days the milk is drawn only once in two days, until se- 

 cretion is completely stopped. This may require two weeks 

 or more. There is far less danger of injuring the cow's udder 

 in drying her up than is generally believed. If a cow is 

 producing as little as 10 pounds per day milking can be 

 stopped at any time, and no harm will result. The udder 

 should not be milked out at all. It will fill up for a few days, 

 and then the milk contained is gradually reabsorbed, and no 

 harm will result in any case. If a cow is producing more 

 than this amount of milk, it is advisable to first cut down her 

 feed. The grain ration should be all removed, and if the cow 

 is producing as much as 14 or 15 pounds per day, feed her only 

 on timothy hay for a few days until the production of milk 

 begins to decline, then stop the milking. The author has 

 practiced this method for several years with high-producing 

 cows, with no injurious results. 



An example will show how it works in practice. In 1907 

 the Jersey cow, Bessie Bates, under the charge of the author, 

 was producing 19 pounds of milk per day, testing 5.5 per cent 

 of fat, and it was desired to dry her on account of approaching 

 calving. Her grain ration was first of all entirely taken away, 

 and she was given timothy hay only. After six days her pro- 

 duction had declined to 14.1 pounds of milk per day, and at 

 this point milking ceased entirely. Her udder filled rather full ; 

 but after three or four days it began to soften, and within a 

 week was perfectly normal. In her next milking period of 

 365 days she produced 13,895 pounds of milk and 680 pounds 

 of butter fat. 



Management of the Cow when Dry. The cow should be in 

 good flesh at the time of calving, as discussed in other places. 



