86 DAIRY FARMING 



66. Effect of Interval between Milkings. If the cow be 

 milked twice a day at twelve hour intervals, there is usually 

 no marked difference between the night and morning milk. 

 If the periods are unequal, the larger amount of milk and the 

 poorer quality follow the longer period. Heavy-producing 

 cows and all that are being handled to obtain the largest 

 record should be milked three times a day. Few cows can 

 produce over 60 pounds of milk with two milkings, and when 

 75 to 80 pounds per day is reached, the production will sel- 

 dom go higher unless the cow is milked four times each 

 twenty-four hours. Heavy-producing cows may profitably 

 be milked three times a day. With cows of ordinary ca- 

 pacity the increased yield is not sufficient to pay for the 

 extra labor. A cow that will produce 60 pounds per day with 

 two milkings as a rule will increase to at least 70 if milked 

 a third time. The richness of the milk of heavy milkers is 

 increased somewhat when they are milked more than twice 

 per day. If many cows in the herd are giving over 50 

 pounds when milked twice a day, it will pay to try milking 

 three times. 



67. Milking Machines. A satisfactory milking machine 

 has long been one of the greatest needs of the dairy farmer. 

 While it can hardly be said that the milking machine is out 

 of the experimental stage, still it seems sufficiently well 

 developed to be considered a commercial success at the pres- 

 ent time. It is thoroughly demonstrated that by its use a 

 skilled operator can do as good work as the average milker. 

 It is still a question whether the amount of milk obtained dur- 

 ing the lactation period by a milking machine is equal to 

 that obtained by a good milker. It is quite certain that the 

 cow is not injured by the use of the milking machine. 



Provided the machine is properly cleaned and used, the 



