The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-05-08

Hi BOB PEAK.
CARE AND HANDLING OF MILK.
A Scottish authority, Mr.. j. A.
Stephenson, in a lecture lately deliv-
cred upon butter-making and market
ing, has this to say about milking and
the record of milk:
! In addition to having suitable food
and pure water, dairy COWS should be
provided with properly ventilated!
houses, constructed in such way as to
resist the heat Of summer and coldness
of winter, and to ensure circulation
of fresh air without drafts. Uniform
ity of temperature is very largely con
ducive to a regular milk yield, and if
it's quantity is dependent upon the
kind and amount of food consumed,
it's quality is affected by the kind OF
air inhaled. So far as concerns the
purity and flavor of milk and butter,
there need be no hesitation in assert
ing that the expense and study de-
voted to a proper system of feeding is
largely thrown away in the case Of
COWS kept in an il-ventilated building
and breathing a vitiated atmosphere,
charged with carbonic acid gas and
ammonia-the products Of decompo-
sition. A due proportion Of oxygen
in the air breathed is essential to the
purity not only of the blood Of the
animal, but also of the milk, which is
secretion from it.
The milking should be done In a
gentle, thoroug gh and cleanly manner.
| Milk or " stripplings" " left in the udder
Through careless or incomplete milk
ING, are either re-absorbed into the
system, tending to the fattening of the
COW and her spoliation as mixer, or
become sources of irritation and dis
ease. Were any conclusive investiga-
ton practicable, it would probably
appear that diseases of the udder have
very largely resulted from this cause
alone. In order to proper cleanliness,
a pail of water should be provided, in
which the mixers may frequently
rinse their hands.
AS an item of good management
and economy, the weighing the pro-
duce of COWS at every milking is very
strongly to be recommended, which,
with the appliances now to be had for
the purpose, can be done with the
minimum of time of trouble, and with
the following advantages:-0) It pro-
vides an effectual check on the work
of the mixers, which, in consideration
of what has just been said about the
consequences Of inefficient milking, is
a matter of vital Importance, especially
in the lager dairies, when hired milk
ers are employed. (2) 1t furnishes a
reliable indication as to the general
health of the COWS, the milk yield of
which is affected by the slightest all
ment. (3) A most valuable result
obtained by the regular weighing of
the milk, is the exact estimate it en-
ables one to form of the comparative
values of Individual COWS in the herd,
not only in regard to milk yield, but
when a proper test is regularly applied,
of butter production also, matter OF
the utmost Importance IN selection,
which is at the very foundation of the
dairy farmers success, the use OF In
ferior COWS resembling the working
with imperfect machinery, at a sacri-
flee both of labor and produce. (4)
The daily milk yield Of the COW, sup
plemented with particulars of the but,
ter contents of milk in ounces per gal
lon Ia natural system having been
perfected by means of which the
necessary testing can be done in an
accurate, inexpensive and expeditions
manner), these together provide the
details for record of much value, not
only for the determination of the
merits of Individual COWS, but also
furnish the basis for system OF pro
portional feeding advocated by Sir }
b. Lawes, and the details OF which
have since been worked out for prac
tical use.-Farm, Field and Stochman
In Connecticut there are S5,5OI
| ,,,oe of ox,ctor beds