Milk. 
301 
This superior richness of the last-drawn milk has an important 
bearinj; on the question of using milking-machines. Unless 
these can finish as well as commence the operation, they will 
be but of little service to the large dairy farmer. But, accord- 
ing to the united testimony of all who have tried the new Ame- 
rican cow-milking machine, one of its greatest defects is that it 
does not completely strip the udder of its contents. This appears 
to me fatal to its ultimate success in England ; and I am told by the 
secretary of one of the most influential State Agricultural Societies 
that it has almost entirely gone out of use in the United States. 
The want of success with which this machine has been tried 
by men who 1 know are most anxious to do away, if possible, 
with milking by hand, is no doubt the reason why so little has 
been heard of it lately. It has been to my knowledge tried by 
several excellent judges ; but as it is at all times a more pleasant 
task to praise than to condemn, — and judicious men will not 
bestow undeserved praise, and yet do not like to give an adverse 
judgment on an implement so much needed as a truly good 
milking-machine, — tliey prefer to remain silent on the suljject. 
2. Distance from the Time of Calving. — The first milk, or 
colostrum, yielded by the animal after the birth of its young, is 
thicker and yellower than ordinary milk, coagulates by heating, 
and contains an unusually large quantity of casein or curd, as 
will be seen by the following analysis by Boussingault : — 
Composition of Colostrum, or First Milk of the ■Coic, 
Water 7o*8 
Butter (pure fat) 2-G 
Casein 15"0 
Milk-sugar 3"G 
Mineral matters (ash) 3"0 
100-0 
In ten or twelve days from the time of calving, this pecu- 
liarity disappears, and the milk assumes its ordinary condition. 
The flow of milk then becomes very plentiful ; but after a month, 
or thereabouts, the yield gradually diminishes, and gets less and 
less as the time advances. 
In the first and second months after calving, when the yield of 
milk is abundant, it is generally more watery than after the fourth 
or fifth month. The^ further the diminution in quantity proceeds, 
the better the quality of the milk becomes, other circumstances 
being equal. Most cows run dry in about ten months, but there 
are exceptions to this rule. By feeding them upon brewer's 
grains, distillery refuse, succulent grass, mangold-tops, starch- 
maker's waste, and similar watery food, the milksellers near large 
towns often keep cows in a profitable milking condition for a 
very much longer time. 
