172 MODERN MILK GOATS 



out the left wrist to catch it and ward it off, but do not 

 let go the teats. 



Foreigners often milk goats from the rear. It seems 

 more natural to most Americans, as well as cleaner, to 

 milk from the side, as we do cows. Arrangements for 

 comfortable milking are illustrated in Chapter XVII. 



Developing a Heavy Milker. — While we have now 

 reviewed the main points of good dairy practice in the 

 management of milking does, there are a mmiber of 

 suggestions that may !)<" helpful to one who sets out to 

 develop a milker of outstanding capacity. 



Early Care. — To " begin at the beginning," choose 

 a kid that is born in the spring. For no reason that is 

 explainable, spring kids make a better growth and de- 

 velopment, other things being equal, than kids born later 

 in the season. Having chosen such a kid, from the best 

 available milk stock, rear her in accordance with the 

 suggestions given for the care of the kids and the goat- 

 lings. Breed lier at tlie age of eighteen or nineteen 

 months, so that slie will freshen at two years old, and in 

 the early spring. If her feed is to consist at all of range 

 or pasturage, it is important that she come fresh just as 

 the new spring growth is beginning, so that the develop- 

 ment and increase of her milk flow will correspond with 

 the increase of the green feed. 



Dm'ing the goatling stage and her pregnancy take 



