MILKING- COWS.-CORN SILKS, ETC. 
351 
a country larger than the State of Connecticut, can 
he in five years in cultivation in sugar cane, oran¬ 
ges, limes, lemons, bananas, and other tropical pro¬ 
ductions that cannot be raised in any other part of 
the present United States,” to quote the significant 
language of the gallant Harney. 
MILKING COWS. 
This is a subject of too much importance to be 
passed over; and I fear that I must add that it is a 
subject far too much neglected. The milking of 
cows resolves itself naturally into two heads, viz., 
how to milk, and when to milk. 
How-to Milk. —It is astonishing what difference 
there is in good and bad milking. 1. If every drop 
of milk in the cow’s udder be not carefully remov¬ 
ed at each milking, the secretion will gradually di¬ 
minish in proportion to the quantity each day left 
behind. This fact is well established, and is to be 
well accounted for on philosophic principles, as 
well as borne out in practice. Nature creates 
nothing in vain, and the secretion of milk in the 
cow only suffices to supply that daily lost—the 
milk left behind in the udder is re-absorbed into the 
system, and consequently the next milking will be 
so much the less in quantity. But another reason 
why every drop of milk should be taken away, is to 
be found in the well-known fact that the last milk 
is doubly, as good as the first milk—hence, if not 
removed, there is not merely equal, but double loss. 
2. Milking should be conducted with skill and ten¬ 
derness—all chucking or plucking at the teats 
should be avoided. A gentle and expert milker 
will not only clear the udder with greater ease than 
a rough and inexperienced person, but will do so 
with far more comfort to the cow, which will 
stand pleased and quiet, placidly chewing the cud, 
and testifying by her manner and attitude that she 
experiences pleasure rather than annoyance from 
the operation. Cows will not yield their milk to a 
person they dislike or dread. I have taken some 
trouble to acquire the art of milking, in order that 
I might be able to describe it. You take the teat in 
your palm, enclosing it gradually in your fingers, 
tighter below than above ; but not absolutely tight 
anywhere—a portion of the upper part of the hand 
—the thumb is uppermost—embraces a portion of 
the udder, and the whole hand is drawn gently 
downwards, towards the extremity of the teat, be¬ 
tween the thumb and the forefinger; very little 
practice enables the milker to do this with ease, 
rapidity, and tenderness. I need not say let the 
hands be carefully washed before each milking; 
hut I dare say it is seldom thought necessary to 
wash the cow’s teats. This, nevertheless, should 
be done, and it will then be found that the milk 
will flow more freely with any teats than if you 
wet them with the milk : at least, I find it so, and 
think myself an expert milker. 
We now require to consider when the cows are to 
be milked —a question again resolving itself into 
two minor ones, viz., at what hours, and how often ? 
The ordinary practice is, to milk cows twice daily 
—at about 5 o’clock in the morning, or, in winter, 
as soon after daylight as possible, and again at the 
same hour in the afternoon, thus leaving 12 hours’ 
interval between each milking. Some recommend 
milking three times daily during the summer months, 
statins: as their reason that cows are then after 
calving, and flush of milk, and that the three 
milkings are calculated to increase the quantity of 
the secretion. Some even recommend four milk¬ 
ings during that season. There can be no question 
but that, when fed in proportion, such a constant 
demand would necessarily increase the quantity of 
milk secreted; but then it is likely that the same 
causes might produce such a depression in the 
secretory system—naturally consequent upon un¬ 
usual excitement—as would cause a decrease of 
milk in autumn and winter, in about equal ratio.™ 
Ayr Agriculturist. 
CORN SILKS. 
Every farmer knows that corn throws out of 
the upper end of the ear a bundle of fine threads, 
called silk. The housewife, who gathers green 
corn to boil, knows more than this. She knows 
that about two thirds of the lower end of the ear 
silks out first—a few days afterwards, about two 
thirds of the remainder of the ear silks out; and 
if everything is favorable, the rest of the ear 
sends out silk, and, at harvest time, the whole 
ear is covered with corn; but if the third silk does 
not come out, then the upper end of the ear will be 
a naked cob. 
If grasshoppers eat off the silk as fast as it 
comes out, as they did in 1831, then the entire ear 
will be a naked cob. If the farmer plants only 
that part of the ear that silks out first, will not his 
corn ripen more all at one time, and also a few 
days earlier, and thereby save a third part of his 
crop from destruction by early frosts, if they should 
happen to come ?—Exchange paper. 
Is it Beneficial to have the Ground Shaded 
where Pear Trees Grow ? — For the past few 
years, the ground on which stand the pear trees of 
one of our friends, has been under cultivation with 
small vegetables, or in grass kept short. The fruit 
from the trees, during this time, has been quite in¬ 
different. The past spring the land was plowed, 
and the fore part of June sowed with oats, which 
had a rank, thick growth, and were not cut till the 
last of August—thus shading the ground very well 
all summer. The pears ripened mostly in August 
and September, and were more abundant, freer 
from defects, larger and finer than ever before 
known. Now, was it the shade of the oats, the 
cultivation of the land, or a better fruit season, that 
caused this beneficial change ? 
How to Keep a Horse from Straying.— 
The Icelanders have a most curious custom, and a 
most effectual one, of preventing horses from stray¬ 
ing, which is peculiar to that country. Two gen¬ 
tlemen, for instance, are riding together without 
attendants, and wishing to alight for the purpose 
of visiting some objects at a distance from the road, 
they tie the head of one horse to the tail of the 
other, and the head of this to the tail of the for¬ 
mer. In this state, it is utterly impossible that: 
they can move on either backwards or forwards, 
one pulling one way, and the other another; and 
therefore, if disposed to move at all, it will be only 
in a circle, and even then there must be an agree¬ 
ment to turn their heads the same way. 
