St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-07-04
CONS.
How they Should be Milked-The PerVer
sftY of the Creatures.


lieye that a cow should be trained SO as
to have no preferences, and some
others think it best to cherish all the
whims of the animal Cows can De
trained either way. The writer has
chosen the former plan. and from its
birth COW is made wholly artificial
animal. It is never permitted to suck
its DAM. and is removed from her as
soon as tits dropped and attended to IN
an appropriate manner. by whomsoeVer
may happen to be the most convenient
help-the owner or a hired man. 1t IS
taught to drink, used to be tied up, to
be led by a halter, to be tethered, to be
carded and brushed and handled all
over, and when it is a COW it IS as docle
and tractable as any Well-tralned rea-
sonable animal could be. This IS con-,
yenient 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 ana
the mixers, and are a 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
| bv convicts in the usual striped dress
| When sold and changed for another
COW this animal utterly refused to let
| down her milk until a 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
peryerse 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
inc depends upon the training to which
the COW has been used, and it is
quite a mistake to give the COW
an advantage over the owner, which
i will make him 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 inner
tied qualify.
! 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 doEe 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 a
calf thus trained becomes cow she
submits quietly to be MIXED and will
i not kick or withhold the milk. Thus
the most troublesome vices of a cow are
eYaded. The manner of milking should
be easy and gentle. A soft, small hand
does this work the best. 1t is well tc
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 9
sucking calf. When the teats are short
another method may be used; the thumb
I. 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 ii
this way. The milking should be done
as quickly as possible and the teats
drained dry. Slow milking has bac
effect upon the COW, as a habit of drib
bling the milk is formed, Twelve o.
fourteen quarts of milk can be takeI
from a. coW-and should be--in fiyt
minutes; ten cows should be MIXED il
less than an hour when in their full
flush. It is a good plan to change th'
mixers occasionally, and if a strange
mixer is brought in he should feed thu
COWS few times and brush and handle
them and pet them and talk to them
and so get. well acquainted with then
before. he milks. When COWS are thu
trained the methods should not b
changed. but regularly adhered to. Thi
regularity in all the works of the dairy
in feeding, watering, cleaning ant
milking is indispensable to success
Lastly, it is best to make habit of Civ
ing the cows a small bite of hay befor
milking, and to give the regular mea
after milking. The morning milking
. should be done at about five O'Clock
and the evening at the same hour. Thi
: gets the morning work all done up Will
! ! breakfast is preparing. and the eYenin,
work may be finished by six or 500
after, giving a twelve hours Workin
day, which is long enough for an
: reasonable farmer to exact of himself 0
7 his hired men. Henry StesCd7t, IN \
,, i. Times.
Disinfectants are often used to grea