CHAPTER III. 



FllRMATlON AND COLOR OF MILK. 

 'Die Structure and Uses of the Udder. 



The natural size and use of the udder are somewhat 

 dififerent from the artificial size and use, when it is not re- 

 sorted to in the natural way by the suckling calf. The 

 udder of cows in their natural state is quite small, holding 

 but two or three pints of milk, for feeding the calf during 

 the season — which is variable in length — of its teething ; 

 the custom of hand milking having grown up simultane- 

 ously with the domestication of cows, at various times, in 

 different countries, and extending back through long pe- 

 riods. Naturally, the udder is a breeding organ, as it is 

 necessary to maintain the calf till it is able to graze, or 

 eat grass, and gather its own subsistence. To supply the 

 calf with its natural sustenance during the period between 

 its birth and the completion of its teeth, by hardening, is 

 the natural purpose for which the udder is provided and 

 used, and no other provision for completing the breeding 

 process, and so maintaining the race, generally, appears ; nor 

 is it necessary ; as the udder is quite effective as an organ 

 for completing the process of breeding, or maintaining 

 the breed, provided the cow obtains sufficient food. The 

 cow consumes sufficient food^ and forms from it a suffi- 

 cient quantity of blood to supply the combined demands 

 of both cow and progeny at the same time, or during 

 pregnancy, as well as after calving ; but the quantity of 

 blood formed is widely assumed to exceed this combined 

 demand \ and the supposed excess is drawn by hand at the 



