The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-04-23
lgrirultural.
From The Cdroiiaa Cuiticator.
ON MILKING.

Gut few persons who are entrusted with
the buSpv>s O! milking, undc! stand lis
philosophy, and the proper method Of its
q! Grafton. faImcrs a.e dcsirous Of pro.
curing the b2at lreed Of COWS for milk,
they try to supply suitable food and STA.
bling, Cat leas, some do) and then they
reasonably expect propOrtiouate return
Tor all their care and expense, when frc
Iuemtly they overlook one of the most i'm
pUrtant means of success. They are per-
haps aware that the bag or ud.lcr of the
COW is lined With Il sort Of honey comb, or
pear shaped vessels, that these are hIled
with milk, and must bc upset 10y mechan-
ica! force and cmpticd into the ,cat OF the
COW; that the cream, or oily part, rises rs
naturally to the upper surface on the mi k
IN the udder, AS II does upon the milk
when set away in pan or dish, that the
last part Of the milking is always the rich.
cS; in cream, that when the COW is not
MIXED dry, rapidly, and with active mus.
cular cxcrtion Of the hand, tue contents cf
the adder are re absorbed into the lac,ea
vessels, forming curd, and obstructin9
the secretion Of milk. All tLis may be
well understood by the farmer or dairy
man, but how seldom Go they inform their
mixers about il, or see that such necdful
philosophy is practically obeyed.
Some twenty-five years ago, Tic writer
wei! remembers about the dlscoy cry Of "A
new method Of milking. 4 boy who was
probably endowed with more h@iness than
sense, found that 10y Inserting n quill or
straw into each teat Of the COW the milk
would run out without any tax upon his
own excrtions. When Questioned by his
employers as to the reason OF his unusual
quicknes$ in milking, he reluctantly told
them Of his discovery. The invention
caused almost as much excitement in the
neighLorhood as the discovery of the COW
poX, and il soon got into some Of the pa
p"rs. The boy was ex,olIed hy some, MS
IA bcncfac;or Of Tue ag".-thc h,ro of the
milk pail. One newspaper prophesied
that silver milking tubes would bc manu-
iacturcd by the quantity, come into uni
vc's use as one OF the Indispensable i'm
plemcnts of that age of astonishing i'm
provements; wien 10. in few weeks
The public joy was dashed to the ground
like the maids pail Of milk, by the an
nounced caution that all Of the aforesaid
IaziIy MIXED COWS were mysterious'y dry
iny "p.
The fact was obvious that natures re.
quircments had been unhecdcd--that n
Aytlcss boy and hungry caif drew the
mix il a totally different mauner,-that
while the brains Of the one were lul!cd in
TO easy contemplation over the milk pail,
the brains Of the other were beating a
vigorous rcrciLlc against the cows udder,
compelling nature to be generous and
bouutiGu. There are indeed comparative
ly few persons who understand how to
milk n COW as it should be done, and
once heard celebrated agricultural edit
or at the South, remark that lie never
saw there, but one person who could he
called good mllkcr, and TO Judge by
what have seen there, as to the quantity
they commonly obtain from their cows, I
should agree with his opinion. as | would
give more for the yearly yield from one Of
our native cows when properly MIXED,
than for that Of the best imported blood
stock, when MIXED in the TOO common
IistIess way. a naturally good cow can
soon be ruined, as TO her milking quail
ties, by careless, Indifferent mixers, and
particularly when aided by scanty and
poor food and shelter.
II. II. +.