CHAPTER XX 

 MILKING THE COWS 



CHILDREN or weak-handed persons should 

 never milk good cows. They have not the 

 strength in their hands to press the teats hard 

 enough to excite the nerves sufficiently to get all 

 the milk. Poor milkers are too often the cause 

 of the cows not filling the pail as they should. 



Did you ever think why a calf or a lamb bunts 

 its mother when getting its supper? The milk 

 was not coming fast enough to suit the little ani- 

 mal, and instinct taught it that by giving a bunt 

 or two the milk came quicket — the nerves were 

 thereby excited. Some milkers might take a les- 

 son from the calf, and instead of trying to get the 

 udder as well as the milk into the pail, let them 

 press upward instead of pulling downward so 

 hard. The udder is less likely to become injured 

 or unshapely. 



Much might be said in favor of women as milk- 

 ers. The withdrawal of women from the cow 

 stable has been detrimental to the dairy industry. 

 A woman has naturally greater patience and more 

 innate kindness and a higher ideal of cleanliness 

 than a man. The exercise of these virtues tells 



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