Fundamentals Of Milking

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 15, 3 November 1948, Page 5

Fundamentals Of Milking

DR. PETERSEN'S ADDRESS

"The main fundamental in milking* to bear in mind is that the milk is all in ? the udder -when milking- begins, not manufactured during it," declared Dr. W. E. Petersen, Professor of Dairy Husbandry at the University of Minnesota, in an address to farmers at Whakatane, Monday night. There was an' attendance of about *6OO, which kept Dr. Petersen busy answering questions at the conclusion of his talk. The producer of two films, Dr. Petersen screened one of them, "No Hand Stripping," and then enlarged Tipon it. He said that all the milk should be got out at each milking. If this were not done, milk secretion would be reduced or the cow would begin to dry off. Dr. Petersen enumerated the main -points of successful milking into five rules. First, the full co-opera-tion of the cow must be obtained. It should be at ease and not excited before entering and while in the bail. -

As a stimulant to the let down of milk, Dr. Petersen said that a «loth in warm water was the best so far discovered. A vigorous, but mot vicious, massage should applied to the teats lasting from 15 to 20 seconds, milking to begin about a minute later.

. Gopd condition of the milking machine was important, and the manufacturer's directions should be followed.

"Milking by mechanical means," Dr. Petersen said, "can be last as good as hand milking. But it can also be much worse if not done properly."

On the controversial subject of hand stripping, Dr. Petersen was -emphatic that all milking could be •done by the machine. He added, that by a proper manipulation of the •cups every bit of milk could be let •down.

"I have yet to find a cow T canjjnot strip- by machine," he said. Ir> his fifth rule he pointed out

the importance of taking the machine off as soon as the milk ceased to flow. If that were not done7*harmful pressure was exerted by the cups on to the delicate linings in the teat, resulting in injuries or growths and a slowing down of milking. Generally, Dr. Petersen added,. the average time taken by most cows to be milked was about 3£- minutes each. This, of course, could not possibly apply to every beast.

During his address Dr. illustrated the points he was trying to make by incidents from his personal experiences. Many of them were humorous and during the hour he spoke he continually held the attention of his entire audience.