Aug. 1, 1901.) 
Supplement to the " Tiopical Agriculiumt. 
141 
ing thett with any, and when the hens become 
pick from iisdigestion they resort to poisonous 
nostrums. Keep a box of pounded glass where your 
hens can always get at it. Perhaps some may 
smile when advised to give pounded glass to the 
hens, but try it and notice how readily they will 
eat it, and you will wait quite a long while if you 
expect any of them to die from eating the glass. 
Anything that is hard and sharp will answer. 
The hard pearly-portions of oyster-shells make an 
excellent grit, but they lack hardness, though they 
are better than nothing at all. Pounded bones 
are a delicacy to any flock of hens, and this is a 
material which is available at the cost of a little 
trouble in every household. Eemember, fowls 
cannot lay well unless kept healthy, and cannot 
be kept healthy without grit. 
A writer in the Field writes to prove that 
Shakespeare knew even the merits of poultry ! 
When Master Robert Shallow orders a dinner for 
Fulstaff, he is made to say " Some pigeons Davy, 
a couple of short-legged hens, a joint of mutton, 
and any pretty little kickshaws." This passage, 
it is said, shows that even in Shakespeare's time 
short-legged hens ■« ere regarded as being, what 
they undoubtedly are, the best and plumpest 
for the table, At that time the fancy breeds 
were unknown, and the farm-yard fowls that 
were regarded as the most valuable were those 
that had, like the Dorking and the present Surrey 
and Sussex fowls, short legs. Many fancy breeds 
are characterised by long legs produced by un- 
natural selection, until some enormities such as the 
long-legged game, Langshaws, &c., have resulted, 
the former beiug so obviously useless as table 
fowl that they have been excluded from the 
schedules of the Royal and other Agricultural 
Societies. 
« ■ 
MILKING. 
[Concluded from last number.) 
Chapter III. 
Whoever has the care of the cows, it should be 
their object to keep them clean. If the udder is 
in a filthy condition it must, before milking is 
begun, be washed clean with lukewarm water and 
rubbed dry with a piece of cloth. 
MilK lias great capacity for absorbing gases 
from the air, and since it offers an extensive 
surface as it passes in jets through the air 
between the teat and the pail, the air in the shed 
should — especially during milking — be kept as 
pure as one can possibly keep it. For this reason, 
if tl-^e cows are indoors, they should be made to 
stand up a little while before milking begins. 
They will then probably get rid of their manure, 
Afterwards all available doors and windows 
should be opened for a few minutes, the litter is 
arranged and things are put in order, so ihat 
everything is as it should be when the milking is 
to begin. 
Light helps to keep the air pure, so one should 
always have plenty of dayliglit in the shed ; and 
if the cows are milked indoors in the dark winter 
mornings and evenings, plenty of lantern light 
gives a better chance of good clean milking. 
Milking Times. 
If a cow is milked three time in every twenty- 
four hours the milk obtained is both more 
abundant and richer than if milking takes place 
only twice a day. But whether one milks three 
times or only twice daily, the times between the 
milkings should always be as nearly as possible of 
the same length. 
The cow is a creature of habit ; its udder works 
steadily and regularly. Hence the milking times 
should be most carefully kept, and the same 
pair of hands should milk the same cows in the 
same order. If milking is beguu too late the cow 
• becomes restless, and as regards those which 
give much milk the tension in the udder can give 
pain — in all cases milk is lost. 
Altogether it ought to be clearly realized that 
the cow repays all unpleasantness by giving less 
milk. 
Good Advice (in brief). 
(1) The coio is a living creature. 
Use her kindly and you get more milk 
from her. 
(2) Use develops the living instrument. 
a. Milk dry ! Milking dry develops the 
udder and consequently the power 
of giving milk. 
b. And one obtains richer milk, since the 
very last milk is by far the richest, 
(3) Milk in the right manner. 
a. Grasp the teat with the whole hand. 
b. Press the milk out. 
c. Don't forget the gentle push up against 
the udder. 
d. Never stop nor let the work be in- 
terrupted when milk is " coming." 
e. Eemember the second milking and the 
last drops. 
/, Pat the cow when you have finished 
milking, 
(4) Cleanly milking. 
a. Have clean pails (to milk into and for 
carrying the milk). 
b. Wash your hands before and (in the 
shed) during milking. 
e. It is best to milk with dry hands. 
d. Milk in a suitable and clean smock. 
(5) T'he state of health of the udder. 
a. Tenderness or hard lumps in the udder 
or on the teats. 
b. Blocked milk channel, etc., or 
e. Unnatural looking milk — should all be 
at once reported to the owner or 
other responsible person. 
(6) Milking Times. 
a. Begin at a fixed time. 
b. Milk the same cows in the same order. 
To whoever has charge of the cows : — ■ 
(1) Clean cows. 
{^i) Good air in the shed. 
(3) Plenty of light. 
— Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony, 
