CHAPTER II. 



THE EXTRACTION, IMMEDIATE SALE, AND THE TESTING OF MILK. 



25. Milking 1 . It is of the greatest importance, for the purposes 

 of improving the milking capacity of a cow, and obtaining the 

 largest possible quantity of fat, that the operation of milking should 

 always be carried out in a proper manner. The milk last yielded, 

 as has already been mentioned in 13, is always the richest in 

 fat. In milking, the udder should be perfectly emptied at each 

 milking; and the cows should, above all things, be treated with 

 the indulgence, quietness, and gentle handling required by their 

 nature. Furthermore, the same person should not attempt to 

 milk more cows than he is able to accomplish properly; and the 

 individual cow, during the period of lactation, should, if possible, 

 be milked always by the same person. It is only when milking is 

 carried out by intelligent, careful people, and the cow is hand-milked, 

 that the usefulness of milk cows can with certainty be developed 

 and maintained, and it is only those who are entirely ignorant of 

 the nature of the milking operation who can abandon themselves 

 to the idea of using milking machines of any description for 

 example, milk tubes. 1 The use of milk tubes is only permissible in 

 the case of disease of the udder of the cow. Milking should be 

 done either with the whole hand, or, as is customary in the hilly 

 districts of South Germany, only with the first and middle finger, 

 with the assistance of the bent thumb. On no account must it be 

 omitted to press the udder gently and repeatedly between the 

 hands, not merely at the beginning of milking, but also during the 

 process of milking. The custom prevalent in these hilly districts 

 exercises a greater strain, but is far cleaner than milking with the 

 whole hand, since by the latter method it is almost impossible to 

 avoid bringing the milk into contact with the palm of the hand, 

 which is often very dirty. It is hardly necessary to say that the 

 hands of a milker should be washed before milking, and whenever 

 necessary, the udder and the teats should be carefully cleansed. 



1 When this sentence was written by Prof. Fleischmann, the Thistle Milking Machine 

 had not been invented. Editors of English Edition. 



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