90 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



18. " The advantages are, cleanliness, health of the herd, 

 and saving of labor." 



On farm No. 1 a portion of the barn, 10^4x40 feet, not 

 including the manger, is devoted to the cows; there they are 

 allowed to run loose and eat their roughage from a manger which 

 extends along the feeding alley. 



The most interesting feature in connection with the keeping 

 of this herd, is the way in which the milking is done. The cows 

 are all milked by one man and when milking time arrives the 

 grain feed for the first cow is placed in the box at the north end 

 of the manger. Cow No. 1 is always on hand to take her place 

 and since she stands next the wall and the milker sits on the side 

 toward the rest of the herd she is not disturbed by the other cows 

 while eating her grain and being milked. As soon as the milk 

 is drawn it is weighed and poured into the strainer. While this 

 is being done cow No. 1 moves away among the rest of the herd 

 and No. 2 comes up for her grain, which is placed in the feed 

 box. As the cows are not tied no time is lost in changing. It 

 is surprising to see how quickly they learn to take their places 

 and in the same order. This is very important to the success of 

 this method, as it makes the milking time come regularly for 

 each cow. 



As all cows should be fed liberally on roughage and the 

 grain feed varied according to the milk flow and the individual 

 needs of each cow, this method works admirably in all respects, 

 and it has been successfully practiced on this farm for eight 

 years. This method is economical of room since no milking 

 stable is required and as there is no partition for the milking stall 

 all of the room is available for the cows between milkings. It is 

 somewhat more sanitary to have a separate milking stable, yet 

 if sufficient bedding is used, both cows and stable are cleaner than 

 are usually found where ordinary stabling is practiced. Since 

 this method works so well with a small herd and one milker there 

 is no reason why the same could not be practiced with a large 

 herd by dividing it into sections and having all the cows milked 



