Pain) 
MILKING. 
X. A. WILLARD. 
It Is not every dairyman that knows how to 
milk—some can not, and others will not, learn. 
Vast numbers of good cows are mined every' 
year by carelessness, by neglect and by 
brutality of milkers. The manner of milking 
and the circumstances connected therewith are 
often not fully understood, or if understood, 
not fully appreciated by dairymen. I heard 
two farmers recently comparing the yield of 
milk from their respective herds for the past 
season. The receipts of one were about a 
third more than than those of the other, and 
the latter said: “I cannot understand this— 
my feed, my water supply and my cows are 
as good as yours.” The reply was—“ Yes, 
but when my milkers go into the milk barn to 
milk they understand that it means business 
I tell them my milking barn is no place to tell 
long stories and spark the hired girls. I won’t 
have a poor milker around at any price, and 
if I catch a man striking or maltreating a cow 
‘ off goes his head.' I talk this thing over 
w hen I hire him and he understands the first 
time he abuses my cows his time is out.” It 
was evident these few words struck deep; the 
subject now bad a money value which carried 
conviction and was more i inpressive than mere 
words. 
The health authorities and the Society for 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would do 
well to give some attention to the manner in 
which cows are milked in some dairies East 
and West, for I am of the opinion that an in¬ 
vestigation in this direction is much needed 
and would promote the welfare of the public. 
In new districts and especially at the West 
and the Northwest, where the dairy industry 
is 1 apidly spreading, some suggestions in re¬ 
gard to milking will be the more serviceable 
because persons unaccustomed to the care of 
dairy stock ofteu fall into serious trouble and 
loss which a timely suggestion would perhaps 
obviate. 
The first point to be observed by milkers is 
extreme kindness to dairy stock—no loud talk¬ 
ing or rough treatment of any kind should be 
allowed while milking. The animal should 
become well acquainted with its milker; 
should be made to feel a perfect trust and con¬ 
fidence in this person's good intention, so as to 
be kept as quiet and free from excitement as 
possible. This is best effected by petting the 
cow, handling her gently and speaking in low, 
kind, cheery tones. Cows that are frightened, 
that are kicked and beaten for every misstep 
they make while being milked, not only fall off 
greatly in their yield of milk, but their milk 
s rendered unwholesome and often so much 
so as to cause disease and death to persons 
partaking of it. The changes which milk 
undergoes under such circumstances have 
not been fully explained, though as a phsyi- 
ological fact the unwholesomeness of such 
milk has been long observed, and made record 
of, by the medical profession. It should be 
borne in mind, therefore, that any thing which 
frets, disturbs, torments, or renders the cow 
uneasy, lessens the quantity and vitiates the 
quality of her milk. 
The quantity of milk that a cow gives de¬ 
pends much upon the mode, time, and regu¬ 
larity of milking. Cows do best that have 
one regular milker, and the time of milking 
should be carefully attended to and not be 
subjected to variation from day to day. The 
bag should be brushed of any loose hairs, and 
in case of any dirt on the udder it should be 
cleansed by washing with a cloth and fresh 
water. For if the cow has been driven through 
any muddy places and thus become besmeared, 
any dirt accidentally falling in the pail will 
communicate its taint to the milk. The prac¬ 
tice of wetting the hands and teats with milk 
before milking is a very vicious practice. 
This should always be avoided, both for the 
comfort of the animal and the cleanliness of 
the milk. The milker should have short finger¬ 
nails, for long nails will be sure to hurt the 
teat and cause irritation to the cow. There 
are two methods of milking—the one may be 
called stripping or catching the teat between 
the finger and thumb and stripping down the 
whole length of the teat. This plan is not to 1 
be recommended. The better way is to grasp 
the teats, one in each hand, diagonally across 
the bag and press out the milk—the second, 
third and fourth fingers doing the main work, 
while the upper portion of the hand and first 
finger prevents the milk from returning to the 
udder; the milk should be drawn rapidly and 
the udder completely emptied of its contents. 
In the flush of the season, or when cows are 
yielding the most milk, from 11 to 12 cows per 
hour will be about the rate for a competent 
hand. A slow, dilatory milker makes a great 
loss in the yield of milk and if possible ought 
never to be allowed to milk, except perhaps 
when cows are going dry at the end of the 
season. As the last-drawn milk is the richest 
in butter, great care should be taken that all 
the milk in the udder be drawn, and this is 
important not only on account of the value of 
such milk, but because the habit of leaving a 
part of the milk undrawn has a tendency to 
dry up the cow and weaken her capacity for 
yielding a full flow of milk another season. 
To be a good milker is an accomplishment 
which some persons can never attain. It re¬ 
quires a muscular hand, honesty, or conscien¬ 
tious integrity, in discharge of duties, good 
nature, or complete control of temper, at least 
while milking, and a scrupulous regard to 
cleanliness. 
Unless perfectly trusty hands can be em¬ 
ployed in milking, the dairyman should give 
personal attention to the milking, and if he 
does not milk himself he should see to it that 
those in his employ perform the work properly 
in every particular ; for it is upon the manner 
in which this work is performed that bis profits 
from the dairy will be in a great measure reg¬ 
ulated—one blow on the spine with a milking 
stocl in the hands of a passionate, ill-tempered 
man, or a kick on the udder, may ruin a cow 
forever. 
- « - 
Remedy for Caked Bag in a Cow.—For 
swollen and caked bag I have discovered what 
proves with me a complete remedy. This com¬ 
plaint seemed to be almost an epidemic in my 
barns this Winter. A number of my cows 
had been returned to me, by the uian who had 
them in charge last Summer, iu a greatly re¬ 
duced flow of milk. In trying to bring them 
up again they were given high feed and (I 
believe in consequence of that) daily I was 
told that such and such cows’ bags were 
“ hard and in a bad way." Two of the first 
taken I could not cure by hand rubbing, hot 
bathing, and careful milking, and the cows 
were spoiled as milch cows. Then I heard of 
phytolacca or extract of Poke weed. I have 
used it on about a dozen of my cows this 
Winter, and one application usually is suffi¬ 
cient. Thirty drops of tincture in a glass of 
water applied externally is the only way 1 
have had to use it. This remedy is given -in 
tha Homoapathic Veterinary works of late 
date as a specific remedy for inflamed bag, 
etc., and such I have found it. H. n. s. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
-♦ * ♦- 
Deep-milking Young Short-horn Grade. 
—I am much interested in the stock question 
and read with interest the accounts of the 
different breeds. I have a Short-horn grade 
heifer, which came in the first of last May: she 
was just two years old. I was compelled to 
milk her four or five days before she “ came 
in. ” During May and June and, in fact,till the 
grass was injured by the drought, she gave 
26 quarts per day. How is that for a two- 
year-old “Short-horni" Is the milk good? 
Well, good enough to make 10 pounds of but¬ 
ter per week. Of course, as she grows older 
the quality will improve. You can ‘ ‘tally one” 
for Short-horns. D. W. Lewis. 
-- 
For Caked teats and Udder I have learn¬ 
ed, by many years’ experience that the follow¬ 
ing is an effectual remedy:—White vitriol, one 
ounce; copperas, one ounce; gun powder, one 
charge; soft water, one quart. Mix and bathe 
the parts with the mixture two or three times 
a day. John Spry. 
Jefferson Co., Wis. 
iftiscdlaruons. 
RURAL BRIEFLETS. 
In Querist Department of a late Rural, in 
answering H. G. N., iherburne, N. Y., we 
also expressed a desire for a com drill that 
would plant corn three or four inches apart 
in the drill. In reference to this remark a 
correspondent sends us, from Abbyville, Va., 
a circular of the Hoosier Corn Drill of which 
he says:—“ This is the best drill I have ever 
seen. I used them in the North and have also 
done so since I came here. By getting a new 
drive wheel with rows of cogs made in a 
larger circle they can be made to plant as 
closely as one pleases. I suppose the manu¬ 
facturers would get up one if notified so to 
do.”. 
With regard to the corn drill, the Hoosiar 
Drill Co. may think it well to act upon the 
suggestion of the above communication. The 
Hoosier drill is excellent in every way. It 
was used at the Rural Farm to plant the fields 
which produced the heaviest yields on record, 
the expense of manure, etc. being considered. 
Crows and black birds are there great pests, 
and we desire a drill that will drop a seed 
every three inches so as the better to insure a 
good stand... 
Lambert Bros., of Steele City, Nebraska, 
write the Rural as follows: “ You speak 
lightly of the Russian Mulberry. Here it has 
proved hardy so far; is thrifty and fruits 
1 oung. It bids fair to merit all its praise so 
far.”. 
It is very extraordinary that popular errors> 
gross though they be, may go on from year to 
year almost from generation to generation 
without fiuding anybody' sufficiently interested 
to explode the error by a careful test. We 
are thinking of weevil-eaten peas. When 
from our own careful trial four years ago we 
stated that a very large proportion of them 
would not germinate, the statement was rid¬ 
iculed by forty nine out of every fifty. Our 
experiments were repeated by many of our 
subscribers—by several professors in agricul¬ 
tural colleges, and it is now fairly well known 
that badly eaten peas are utterly worthless, and 
that those less eaten germinate feebly and 
make feeble plants. Of late, the old question 
as to whether Red Clover is a long or short¬ 
lived perennial or a true biennial plant has 
been discussed. Is it such a difficult matter to 
sow a f aw seeds, cut off the flowers before they 
mature seeds each season and ascertain thus 
once for all as to its longevity ?..... 
A letter from Mr. W, B. Storer, of Akron, 
O., says: 
“I have the RuHes Raspberry growing with 
Reliance and Early Prolific on one side and 
Cuthbert on the other. The last is equal in 
hardiness, size and productiveness to any of 
the other variet ies, and in quality just splen¬ 
did”. 
Cornua Mas was in bloom April 1st, which 
shows that we have had a mild Winter and 
thus far a forward Spring. We are sowing 
chemical fertilizer with an equal bulk of muck 
and some salt, at the rate of .'>00 pounds to the 
acre on our strawberries. It is raked in with 
a Hexamer pronged hoe, though this itnple 
ment would not answer in a hard, stiff soil.... 
■ ■■■ » * ♦——- 
STRAY NOTES. 
H. L. WYSOR. 
THE JAPAN PERSIMMON. 
On reading Mr. Berekman’s article on this 
subject in the Rural of February 18, I am 
led to say that three years ago this Spring 
I planted four trees of this fruit. The early 
part of the first Summer was very dry and the 
trees made no growth till in the Fall. The 
wood failed to ripen, nnd was killed to the 
ground the following Winter which was un¬ 
usually mild. The same thing occurred the 
next Winter, a very severe one. The trees 
sent forth sprouts and made considerable 
growth last Summer, and the past Winter the 
wood was uninjured. 1 am inclined to think, 
however, that the sprouts have come from 
below the point at which the stocks were 
grafted. An agent of the Virginia Nurseries, 
at Richmond, informs me that this persimmon 
has been iu the nurseries there for three or 
four years and has made no growth. It 
ought to do well here, as this is the home of 
the native persimmon, but I fear that it is 
not sufficiently hardy for this climate. At 
any rate, it will not succeed north of the 
latitude of Washington. 
SPANISH CHESTNUTS. 
These are perfectly hardy. I planted some 
trees of them at the same time those of the 
persimmon above mentioned were set out, 
and they have made a good growth. They 
can easily be grafted on stocks of the common 
chestnut. I put some cions on native stocks 
last Spring,and they made a growth of six feet 
during the excessively dry Summer which 
foUajped. This Winter I have planted a line 
of native trees along the roadside, every alter¬ 
nate one of which I shall have grafted with 
the Spanish Chestnut. In this way a striking 
contrast may be made. 
BERMUDA GRASS. 
Seeing that some subscribers from the eastern 
part of Virginia are inquiring where roots of 
this grass may be purchased, I would advise 
them, before purchasing, to satisfy themselves 
fully that they are not already familiar with 
it under another name. This may save them 
disappointment. Dr. Pollard, the Virginia 
Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report 
for the year 1881, says that some years ago, 
wishing to test the praticability of growing 
Bermuda Grass in Virginia, he sent to Ala¬ 
bama and proenred some of the roots of it 
which he planted in his garden. He sent some 
of this grass together with some “Wire” 
Grass, which is a common and a native grass 
in the Middle and Tidewater sections of the 
State, to Professor Riley, who pronounced 
them both the same. Dr. Pollard further 
says that this “Wire” Grass, though good and 
nutritious, makes nothing like the growth 
which the Bermuda does in the South. I am 
not myself familiar with either of these 
grasses, the “Wire” Grass which Dr. Pollard 
described being quite a different grass from 
what is commnoly called by that name herein 
the grazing section of Virginia. This is the 
Poa compressa of the books. 
POLLED CATTLE IN VIRGINIA. 
I was quite surprised at the statement made 
by “ Rodophil ” in the Rural for February 
18th, that there is and has been for years a 
breed of polled cattle in Virginia, and that 
breed, too, the Polled Angus. It is true that 
we have numerous polled cattle or “muleys,” 
as they are called, but they are luere accidents, 
and are of all colors, white, black, red and 
brimlle, “Rodophil” assuredly cannot mean 
to say that such accidental cattle as these con¬ 
stitute a breed! Stockmen will not buy them, 
not because of the fact that they have no 
horns, but because the absence of horns among 
a horned breed is good evidence of bad blood, 
just as is the croppiug out of black lambs in a 
flock of sheep. When it comes to a uniform 
breed of hornless cattle, it is quite a different 
matter. It appears to me that the real objec¬ 
tion to horns in shipping cattle is, not that 
they take up so much room in the car, but 
that the cattle get their horns fastened in the 
open slats of the car and have them twisted 
off in that way,or in fighting with one another. 
I have frequently seen in a car load of 20. five 
or more cattle with their horns broken off and 
the blood streaming down tbeir faces. The 
polled cattle would certainly be better eff on 
this score. 
DALLAS WHEAT. 
The Rural has expressed a desire to test 
this wheat, some of which was purchased in 
Georgia last Fall by the Department of Ag¬ 
riculture for distribution. It is the so called 
“ Rust proof” Wheat of the South. Unfor¬ 
tunately, it is not winter-proof. I sowed one 
hal f bushel of it last Fall in the last week of 
September. Although the Winter has scarcely 
been severe enough to kill Summer oats which 
had sprouted in the oat fields, two thirds of 
the Dallas has departed. It will be an inter¬ 
esting question, whether, if any of it shall sur¬ 
vive the Winter here, it will have acquired 
sufficient hardiness to endure a Winter more 
severe or more northern, and whether seed 
grown here possesses any advantage in this 
respect when grown alongside of the same 
wheat obtained direct from Georgia This 
will probably be a question for the Rural to 
settle another year. 
SHUMAKER WHEAT. 
This wheat, which is sent out in the Rural 
Free Seed Distribution for this year, has now 
been grown in this county for about seven 
years, and is growing in popular favor. It 
is not earlier nor is it a greater yielder than 
the Fultz, but it makes more and better 
flour. Its straw is weak and slender, and 
this seems to be the principal objection to it, 
as it lodges badly in some places. 
Pulaski Co., Va. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
Yes, it is true there is more “labor than 
poetry in farming,” as “ Farmer’s Wife” re¬ 
marks. Yet nowadays the work of a wife or 
daughter is but little in comparison to what 
was performed thirty or forty years ago. At 
least it can be lightened, if all parties have 
the will. Is it necessary to milk in the “ wet 
grass 
It makes me think of N. P. Willis and his 
milkmaid, who took the precaution to be “ shod 
like a mountaineer.” Of course, a farmer’s 
wife is a good cook; she has the best and fresh¬ 
est of everything at her command. No taint 
in the eggs; no sourness in the sweet milk; 
the butter of the freshest, and pleuty of it; 
fruit that retains its flavor; vegetables just 
from the garden, and poultry as sweet and 
tender and fresh as she may choose to supply. 
And it is also true that the families of farm¬ 
ers are not so awkward ns we are led to be¬ 
lieve. But I do not think city people are so 
much to blame as the literature of the day, 
and I have often had a book or a newspaper 
article spoiled for my reading by the coarse 
allusions made to country people. The writers 
have taken as their models the few who exist 
in every community', who are content with 
their surroundings, and know or care for 
nothing more. There are plenty of uncouth, 
awkward farmers; but proportionately there 
are not more such than of tradesmen, and 
in actual intelligence I have always found 
country people better read than those of the 
city in the same positiou of life. If they only 
take one papor, they read it, and are not so 
likely' to lie led away by business or dissipa¬ 
tion, in the evening. Not that I would dis¬ 
parage city people for one moment. The re¬ 
sult of personal contact with the world gives 
them an advantage in appearance; but I have 
seen so much of the petty patronage accorded 
to the farmer by those who are really his in¬ 
feriors, and read so ofteu of the imaginary 
rustic who is held up as a type of the cla?s, 
that I do not wonder at “ Farmer’s Wife” tak¬ 
ing her pen in their defence. And “ farmer- 
ne” is not a pretty word; it is one that ha® 
