. CHAPTER XI. 



PRACTICAL HINTS FOR DAIRYMEN FROM 

 MODERN WRITERS. 



The most essential point to obtain in dairying is to have a good 

 breed of cows that are well adapted for the land and climate, and 

 for the purpose for which they are mainly intended i.e., whether for 

 the production of milk or butter or cheese. 



Gentle treatment, combined with good and regular feeding, and 

 sufficient shelter, are important factors in dairying. 



Cows are sometimes milked oftener than twice a day with advan- 

 tage; but, as a rule, this is unnecessary, the udder oi the cow being 

 of sufficient capacity to hold the milk. 



The time of milking will have to depend upon circumstances. Where 

 a trade is done in selling milk it will be necessary to fix a time, morn- 

 ing and evening, which will suit the railway trains that carry it off. 

 But whatever the times of milking may be, the operation should al- 

 ways be performed at regular hours. 



A dozen cows are generally considered enough for one person to 

 milk and otherwise attend to. Some men will milk as many as fifteen 

 or twenty, but this is too great a number for one person to undertake. 

 Some cows will give their milk in five minutes, whereas other cows 

 might take ten minutes. If the milking is not carefully and properly 

 done, both the quantity as weil as the quality will be seriously 

 diminished; and it sometimes happens that serious permanent injury 

 is done to the cow's udder by careless milking! / ,, 



It has long been considered as a fact that if the '"aiiterings" or 

 " strippings" are left in the udder they become absorbed into the sys- 

 tem, and Nature gradually generates no more than to supply die 

 waste of what has been taken away. It will thus be readily seen 

 that the greatest possible care should be used in milking the cows. 



The temper of cows are often spoilt by bad management and rough 

 usage at milking time, and theretore considerate persons should al- 

 ways be chosen to perform every office connected with the milking, 

 tending, feeding, and general management of the herd. 



It may be generally accepted that upon the methods adopted in 

 feeding the cows will mainly depend both their productiveness and 

 profit, and the quantity and quality of the milk will be found propor- 

 tionate to the nourishment of the food that is given them, provided 

 the cows are suitable for their purpose. Linseed, pea, and oat meal 

 may produce richness; and in Holland, where a great deal of attention 

 is paid to milk cows, when fed in the house it is usual for them to have 

 their water mixed with oilcake, rye, or oatmeal. Brewers' grains will 

 occasion a profuse yield of milk, but it will be of the poorest kind. 

 Amongst those who have turned their attention to deeding with 

 chaffed straw, every kind of straw is sometimes given ; though those 

 of barley and wheat are decidedly inferior. 



The stomach and digestive organs of the cow, being evidently formed 

 with a view to her subsisting upon bulky but moderately nutritious 

 food, such as grass or hay, it is necessary that her capacious stomach 

 be constantly full if the animal is to enjoy that placid contentment 

 which, in the case of the cow, is favourable for the production of milk. 



Now, id' fed upon too great a bulk of rich food and cows can eat 

 nearly as much of one as the other the powers of assimilation are 

 not correspondingly expansive, and verv often stomachic derange- 



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