New Britain herald., 1917-04-20

LEARNING ID MILK
 ON DUMMY COWS'
Girls in England Then Go Into
 Nanny Goat Glass

Copped Hall. England, April 20.- The dummy COW" is perhaps the most interesting part of the machinery Of the new schools of farming which are springing up all over rural Eng land for the purpose of teaching the rudiments to young women volun- teers for work on the land.
 Of these schools, one of the largest is close to London, on the borders of Epping Forest. which is to the British metropolis what Bronx Park Is to New York. The school is on a large ecclesiastical estate known as "Copped Hall." where the girls are billetted in towering, lavish buildings of ancient red brick, once the shelter of hooded monks and leisurely friars.
 The school boasts of ten "dummy cows" on which the would-be milk maids must practice milking. The dummy consists of four tripod legs and an India rubber bag with four red rubber teats. The bag is filled with water, then the instructor adjusts the How at either 'hard,'' medium" or easy" and the novice goes to work.
 Alter a weeks practice on the dummy, two hours a day, the students are allowed to try their skill in milk ing nanny goats. They must spend at least . week milking nanny goats be- fore they are allowed to touch a real COW. It Is a great occasion for a girl pupil when she Is allowed for the first time to milk a COW.
 Goats Are Very Nice.
 I've been promoted,'' remarked ono student with a proud smile. This Is my first COW. I have had a week at milking the dummy in the COW school over tho hill. and another week in the goat stables, getting my l wrists and fingers into trim. The 1 goats are very nice, but the dummy cows are not popular. It is very good | practice, but it's very much like prac- ticing on g. dummy piano. You can't get any sympathy out of it. Some of the girls close their eyes and try to 1 imagine 1t is a real COW. but it takes 1 a lot of ima8ination.'
 The students are supposed to com- plete their course in all-around farm work in about six weeks. Then they arc sent out to take places on regu- lar farms, where they usually work in groups of five or six Tho superintendent of the Copped Hall school, who has been a practical farmer for thirty years. Is enthusias. tic about their work. ''The experi. 1 ment promises to be much more sue cessful than I ever thought 1t wouli be-" he said. "The girls mostly talk, very we'll to the life, which Is health. and interesting. Best of all. the cow and horses take to the girl labol quite naturally. Girls are more sym pathetic with the cows than men ol boys. Even our vicious COWS ant 'kickers' are much better behaved than they were in the old days of mar labor. When a man is milking { kicking COW and she suddenly lashe
 out, he usually retaliates by kickin, back. and this double show of tempe
 is bad for the COW and worse for tn
 milk. The girls don't kick back, be
 cause a girl cant kick with an. effect. They try soothing words in
 stead, and it is wonderful what tn
 human voice will do with animals"
 Most of the girls thus far recruited are of . little above the averag
 middle class socially. Some of then
 have been aristocrats. A young
 graduate who was sent to farm about three miles from the school short time ago gave her new employe quite shock when she appeared witt
 her trim leather suit. knee boots o
 Russian leather, and a servicabl
 farm hat" worth perhaps $25. I'm
 next day the school superintendent re
 ceived a note from the farmers wife
 Dear Sir: Our new farm hand hal
 arrived and is entirely satisfactory
 But we are in a Quandary. Does sh'
 live with the servants or should sh'
 dine with me?"
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