7o 



Hegelund Svstem of Milking. 



(in one case) 30 per cent. The breed seems to have nothing to 

 do with the gain thus obtained, nor does the conformation of the 

 udder. 



It also became apparent on studying the figures that the 

 variations in the results were partly due to the milkers, some 

 individuals being able to obtain more from the after-milking pro- 

 cess than others ; a large extra yield often also meant that the 

 " regular " milking had not been completely performed. Where 

 the cows are milked clean at the ordinary milking, it is thought 

 that the extra manipulation will not yield, on an average, more 

 than about half a pound per day. 



Since the strippings are the richest portion of the milking, it 

 follows that the average fat content of the whole milking is raised 

 by adding these to the bulk. The above figures indicate that by 

 thorough milking — i.e., clean milking in the ordinary sense 

 followed by manipulation of the udder— the average fat con- 

 tent of a cow or a herd may be raised by ot to o*6 per cent., 

 according to the thoroughness of the ordinary milking previously 

 prevailing. 



Including cows tested by several farmers in the State of 

 Wisconsin, as well as at the Experiment Station, some 150 cows 

 have been subjected to these manipulation trials. Of these, 

 about a dozen, which were normally inclined to give trouble at 

 ordinary times, objected to the after-milking, the third manipu- 

 lation being generally the part of the method they did not like ; 

 the remainder of the cows, on the other hand, seemed to like the 

 process. 



It was observed that the Hegelund manipulation had a ten- 

 ■ dency to better maintain the flow of milk at its maximum during 

 the lactation period. It is well known that there is no more 

 certain method of drying off a cow than by leaving a considerable 

 amount of milk in the udder for a number of milkings. The 

 complete emptying of the udder, on the other hand, stimulates 

 the glands into renewed activity. This is especially the case 

 with heifers coming in. Single cases are on record showing that 

 in some instances it has been possible to nearly double the pro- 

 duction of young heifers in the course of a couple of weeks, even 

 when the frequent milking by the manipulation method was not 

 begun until they had apparently reached their maximum yield. 



