The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-06-19
cows.
How they Should be Alilked-The Pervsr.
slty OF the Creatures.

sity OF the Creatures.
There are many diverse opinions
about rearing cows. Some experts be-
lieve that cow should be trained so as
to have no preferences, and some
others think 1t best to cherish all the
whims of the animal. Cows can be
trained either way. The writer has
chosen the former plan, and from its
birth COW is made wholly artificial
animal 1t is never permitted to suck
its dam, and is removed from her as
soon as it is dropped and attended to in
an appropriate manner by whomsOever
may happen to be the most convenient
help-the owner or hired man. 1t is
taught to drink, used to be tied up, to
be led by halter, to be tethered, to be
carded and brushed and handled all
over, and when it Is cow it is as docile
and tractable as any well-trained rea-
Sensible animal could be. This is con-
venient, and convenience in . dairy
conduces TO comfort and profit
On the other hand, there are cows
which are full of whims and conceits.
having been trained to be sef-willed
and to have their own way in every
thing. If this is not done they hold up
their milk, kick over the milk pals and
the mixers, and are = source of con-
slant worry and trouble. An instance
of the result of this kind of training is
afforded by State prison cow of Mis-
souri,. which was MIXED for some years
by convicts in the usual striped dress.
When sold and changed for another
cow this animal utterly refused to let
down her milk until striped dress was
procured and worn by the mixer.
There are many cows who will fail
largely in their milk if strange person
officiates at the pail. Some cows are so
perverse in this respect as to wholly
ruin themselves by Withholding their
milk until the udder has been spoiled.
Much of the comfort and profit of milk
ing depends upon the training to which
the cow has been used, and it is
quite mistake to give the COW
an advantage over the owner, which
will make him a slave to her inclina-
tons. This is to be avoided by proper
training, which should be begun with
the calf or even with the dam, for this
kind disposition which results from
continued discipline becomes an inher-
tied quality.
1t is in the milking that so much
trouble occurs, and it is in regard to
milking that the most patient training
should be given. The young calf should
be used to handling and to the manipu-
lation of the udder and teats from the
first month. This should be dore gently
and cautiously at first. By rubbing the
udder and pulling the teats gently the
milk organs become better developed,
which is another advantage. When q
calf thus trained becomes a COW she
submits quietly to be MIXED and will
not kick or withhold the milk. Thus
the most troublesome vices of a COW are
evaded. The manner of milking should
be easy and gentle. A soft, small hand
does this work the best. 1t is we'll to
vary the methods. Hand milking should
be changed for stripping or finger milk
ing now and then; this relieves the
wrist of the mixer and nearly approach
es the natural drawing manner of
sucking calf. When the teats are short
another method may be used; the thumb
is bent and the teat is taken beween the
bent fore-part and the two fingers. A
teat half an inch long may be MIXED in
this way. The milking should be done
as quickly as possible and the teats
drained dry. Slow milking has bad
effect upon the cow, as habit of drib-
bling the milk is formed. Twelve or
fourteen quarts of milk can be taken
from a cOw-and should be-in five
minutes; ten cows should be MIXED in
less than an hour when in their full
flush. 1t is good plan to change the
mixers occasionally, and if a strange
mixer is brought in he should feed the
COWS few times and brush and handle
them and pet them and talk to them,
and so get well acquainted with them
before he milks. When cows are thus
trained the methods should not be
changed. but regularly adhered to. This
regularity in all the works of the dairy
in feeding, watering. cleaning and
milking-is indispensable to success.
Lastly, it is best to make habit of Civ
ing the cows a small bite of hay before
milking, and to give the regular meal
after milking. The morning milking
should be done at about five o'clock,
and the evening at the same hour. This
gets the morning work all done up while
breakfast is preparing. and the evening
work may be finished by six or soon
after, giving a twelve hours working
day, which is long enough for any
reasonable farmer to exact of himself or
his hired men.-Henry SteUart, IN ~
y. Times.