454 Selection and Milking of Dairy Cattle, [nov. 



commonest cause of cows drying off soon, for a prolonged 

 lactation period can only be obtained where the complete 

 removal of milk at each milking is effected. 



Stripping. — The common method of milking, namely that of 

 grasping the teat with the full hand and exerting a slight 

 downward pull at the time the hand is closed, is not effective 

 in stripping the cow. Stripping is easily carried out by the 

 method known as streak milking, in which the teat is taken 

 between the thumb and fore-finger, or fore-finger and middle 

 finger, then tightly pressed and drawn downwards. This 

 method of milking is very suitable for the purpose of stripping 

 as by its adoption practically all the milk from the udder may 

 be withdrawn. It is not advisable for ordinary milking, though 

 it is sometimes used, on account of its being likely to irritate the 

 teat externally, and even in some cases to cause inflammation. 



It is a vexed question as to which teats should be milked 

 together. By taking, say, the two fore teats, and then the two 

 hind teats, the position of the hands becomes somewhat 

 cramped. . Perhaps the best way, in order to get a good delivery 

 of the milk to the pail, is to grasp a near fore and an off hind 

 teat, and then reverse the order. In the majority of cows the 

 hind teats yield the most milk. This operation is not usually 

 completed simultaneously if one hand is being used to milk a 

 fore and the other a hind teat. 



Hard Milkers. — Cases are frequently met with in which cows 

 are very difficult to milk, being termed hard milkers. Such 

 cows have become so by the milker having for a lengthened 

 period adopted a severe method of withdrawing the milk, such 

 as the streak method before mentioned, the result being that 

 persons accustomed to using the more gentle method would 

 find difficulty in milking such cows. 



Wet or Dry Milking. — Milking may either be performed 

 with wet or dry hands, in the latter case the hands being 

 moistened by a few streams of milk being milked on to them. 

 There are a great many competent persons who favour either 

 method, but taking all points into consideration, the dry method 

 is undoubtedly the more cleanly of the two, and is the one 

 adopted by the best dairymen, though the other appears to be 

 the way nature has suggested for the withdrawing of the milk 



