cows THAT ARE MILKED HY HAND 187 



it cover not fewer than ten weeks, some eight weeks, 

 and, probably, a large number not more than six weeks. 

 In some dairies the milking of some of the cows is con- 

 tinuous. It goes on from year to year, even when the 

 cows breed at regular intervals. It is quite possible to 

 develop the milk-giving habit to such an extent that 

 milk-giving may be so continuous as to cover several 

 years without any cessation. 



That a period of rest between the lactation periods 

 is necessary in a breeding herd is evidenced in nature's 

 plan. No female quadruped continues to give milk 

 during the entire period covered between the birth of 

 two successive individuals of the progeny. With cows 

 thus at liberty, the rest period covers several months. 

 The rest is necessary to enable the dam to restore the 

 flesh lost during lactation, the better to nourish the young 

 of the next birth and to lay up in the system a store 

 of flesh that will be found of much advantage to the 

 system and through it to free milk production during 

 the next period of lactation. Of course dairy cows are 

 kept under conditions which so far differ from those 

 which nature furnishes that the animals may always 

 be amply supplied with food. Notwithstanding, the in- 

 cessant working, so to speak, cannot but tend to wear 

 out the system more quickly than it would wear under 

 management the opposite. The necessity for a rest 

 period is shown in the analogy of perennial plants which 

 have their period of annual rest, even in climates in 

 which winter can scarcely be said to reign. It is fair to 

 conclude that continuous milking will tend to exhaust 

 at too early a period the energies of the animal, and thus 

 in the end it will result in no increase in production. In 

 other words, the female that is given a rest period of 

 reasonable length during the year will give more milk 

 during the lactation period than the female milked con- 

 tinuously will give in the year. It should also follow 



