456 Selection and Milking of Dairy Cattle, [nov., 



Time of Milking. — The common practice is to milk twice in 

 twenty-four hours, and the more nearly the time can be divided 

 into equal parts the more uniform will be the quality of the 

 milk produced. For example, if milking takes place at six 

 o'clock in the morning, the next milking time should be as near 

 six in the afternoon as possible ; this is easy to recommend, 

 but difficult to carry out in practice, especially in the case 

 of those farmers who supply warm milk for consumption in 

 towns. There the demand is for milk to be delivered before 

 breakfast, and again for tea, which often means starting milking 

 at four o'clock in the morning, and again at twelve mid-day. 

 This gives an interval in one case of sixteen hours, and in the 

 other eight, and as a consequence it is frequently the case that 

 the milk yielded at the morning milking is inferior in quality. 

 Cows become regular in their habits, and like to be fed and 

 milked at regular times. If milking is delayed they frequently 

 become uneasy, and the irregularity may cause considerable de- 

 preciation in the amount of milk obtained. Cows which are left 

 too long without milking get very distended udders, which may 

 cause them considerable pain. Very heavy milkers have some- 

 times to be milked three times instead of twice a day, to relieve 

 the pressure on the udder. Over stocking, or the practice of 

 allowing the udder to become unduly distended with milk by 

 failing to milk a cow previously to exposing her for sale at a 

 market or sale, is a very common but cruel practice. It fre- 

 quently leads to inflammation of the udder, and often loss of 

 one or more quarters. 



Kicking during Milking, — Owing to heifers being badly trained 

 or ill-treated they often develop the habit of kicking during milk- 

 ing time. Frequently heifers when they first calve are very 

 sensitive when being milked, and unless they are kindly treated, 

 subsequently prove a great nuisance to the dairy farmer. Kind 

 treatment in the early days is the method most suitable for 

 preventing kicking, but many cows can only be milked when 

 some means is applied to prevent them from kicking. Two 

 means commonly employed are strapping the legs together with 

 a heavy strap, or strapping one leg to the stall. 



Drying Off. — Many cows are so prone to milk that they will 

 continue milking from the birth of one calf till the next. Though 



