MILKING YOUNG HEIFERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9418, 20 May 1882, Page 3

MILKING YOUNG HEIFERS.

The New York World gives tho following useful hints upon this subject “The operation of milking young heifers should be done by one person only, and in the most gentle manner. Violent tagging at the teats by an inexperienced or careless hand is very apt to make the animal irritable, nervous, and uneasy during the operation of milking, in many instances making the animal unwilling to stand still a sufficient time to be milked. Many of the diseases of the teats and udders can be traced to violence during milking. Much difficulty is sometimes met within milking young heifers who are unwilling to stand to be milked ; but the difficulty may be easily overcome by exercising a little patience, judgment, and kindness. These, when properly combined, will perform wonders. It may not be out of place to here state that it is not the quantity of milk the dairy cow yields that gives her a high value. The milk of one good dairy cow wil I make more butter than two poor cows, each one giving or yielding the same quantity of milk as the good one. The most abundant and profitable parts of milk are cream, caseous matter orjeurd, and whey. In these are also contained or existing a saccharine matter (sugar of milk), muriate and phosphate of potassa, phosphate of lime, acetic acid, acetate of potassa, and a trace of acetate of iron. The three principal con-

stituents, cream, curd and whey, can be easily separated. The cream rises to the surface of the vessel in which the milk is placed, and when the milk becomes sour the curd and whey will separate ; the last-named'will also separate if a little rennet is poured into sweet milk. When milk is intended to be made into cheese, no part of the cream should be disturbed or separated. Good cheese is out rarely produced in dairies where butter is the general product, in consequence of the milk being robbed of the cream for making butter. Where a small quantity of milk is left remaining in the udder of the dairy cow at each milking,, where the: dairy implements used are tainted from; neglect, where the dairy-house is kept; dirty or in any way out of order, where the milk is too hot or too cold at coagulation, where too mucßor too little rennet is put into the milk,''where the whey is not speedily taken off, where too much salt is applied, where the butter is too , slowly or too hastily churned, the milk' and its.constituents will be in a great measure lost. Constant care and supervision are required during every stage of the process of butter and cheese making, and almost every hour of the day the most vigilant watch- must be kept.” :