How the Farm Pays.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1581, 14 December 1885, Page 4

How the Farm Pays.

The following is extracted from Peter Henderson's book, " How the Farm Pays " :— v The first groafc curs m the niunagemtmL of the dairy is cleanliness 11" the cows are kept m a filthy state, «lie milk; will certainly become tainted more or less, and that taint will surely affect the cream and butter. Therefoi'e 1 use every precaution to keep the cows clean and the stables, free from Ihe taint or bad odours, and uot only the stable^, but the smroundinss. Girls and boys make the best milkers, because their hands are small and less liable to hint the cow*, and it won't hurt any boy or girl to know how to milk. Theie are many ways of milking. Some clasp the teat with the whole baud and squeeze and pull at the same time j others use only the foreGnger and thumb, with a sort of a stri ping motion. Tho first method is especially objectionable where the hand is large, as the tinners double m around the. teat, and there is danger of piuching th« teat with the finger nails. Stripping should rarely be practised, except m cases where the teat is very small, or as h rest to th« milker's wrist occasionally. I once had a Swiss m my j employ who, m milking, doubled up his thumb against the teat, placing his fingers around it, and \ found he was -much tho easiest and heat milker ever I had ; and since (hen I ha*-e made my boys learn the same method. This way of milking is by far the lies': for men, because doubling the thumb m lessens the capacity of the hand, and the fingers reaching around j the teat. lap on the thumb, and thus protect it from the finger n.vils. In milking with the whole hand, the teat should not be squeezed from the top downward, so as to force out the milk. The fingernails of milkers should be cut close. Evry milker should wash and dry his hands before he begins, and no one should ever dip his fingers into the milk to nydston the teats. The milk-stool should be about 9in high, aud should have three legs. The best position for a milker is to nl cc his head firmly against the .side of the cow, be tween her (high' and' flank, throwing one leg slightly behind audtheotherin front of her hind legs, so as to bold the pail firmly between the knees. In case the milker should get hold of a kicking cow, this position will enable him to brace himself so as to prevent her from kicking the pail. Sometimes however we find vicious kickers where it is necessary to use artificial means to break them of the habit. In such cases a good remedy is to lie a strap — such as a surcingle of a horse — tightly across tho cow's back, and under her belly. In moving her leg forward to kick, the cow raises her back forward of the hip joint, and slightly expands the belly, and her back beiug particularly tender, if the ifcrap is drawn tight it hurts her to make this motion, and she soon desists. When cows are annoyed at milking by flies, it saves all trouble if a light sheet is thrown across the cow's back dttringthe operation. In the case of sore or obstticted teats there is nothing I have found to yive such quick relief as a silver tube made for that purpose. The instrument is simply a silver tube one-sixteenth of an inch m diameter and three inches long, perforated near the top. It should be inserted m the teats and passed above the obstruction. I would nob recommend this to be used constantly, bub when the teats are sore it is of great value. Milking i* done by my boys and my men. Their hands must be washed clean, and if auy filth gathers on the udder and teats of the cow they are also washed and wiped dry with a clean towel."