MILKING — RAISING CALVES. 



661 



hour, and quietly and thoroughly. The " stripping" is a most im- 

 portant part of the milking process. A cow will soon fail in her 

 flow of milk if she is not milked clean each time. A good milker is 

 almost invariably a quick milker ; but undue nervous excitement 

 not only lessens the quantity but lowers the quality of the milk. 

 The main thing to be impressed upon the mind of the dairyman is, 

 that the cow being a creature, of habit, she is best handled and 

 treated, in everything respecting milking, by the practice of regu- 

 larity in all movements around her during milking-time ; for when 

 She is thus treated she will be most apt to "give down" freely. 

 More regularity can be practiced where cows are milked in the barn 

 or shed than where they stand around in the open-field. 



Milking-Pails. 



There are many varieties of milking-pails in use, some of tin 

 and some of wood. The objection to the latter is that it is difficult 

 to keep them clean. The milking-pail should be narrower at; the 



Fig. 815. 



Fig. 816. 



Fig. 817. 



Milking-pails. 



bottom than at the top, as in Fig. 816. In Fig. 815 we give an illus- 

 tration of a wooden milk-pail, attached to which is a pair of ears ; 

 these, resting on the milker's knees, assist in sustaining the pail be- 

 tween the knees. 



Fig. 817 represents a recently invented milking-pail, for which 

 several advantages are claimed ; viz., the seat and pail are combined 

 in one ; the cow cannot kick over or put her fpot into fche pail ; the 

 milk is kept free from hairs and dirt by the, strainer inside the fun- 

 nel ; and the impure atmosphere of the cow shed comes as little as 

 , possible in contact with the milk. 



