Cow's milk

“ The cow's milk, on the contrary, both on account of the cheesy matter which it contains and its disagreeable taste, becomes unpleasant to drink when it sours; and, in persons not accustomed to it, induces colics and diarrhoeas, although the Kalmucks [pg 141] themselves experience no inconvenience from it, unless they have neglected to boil it. This they do, in the first place, and never use it until it has undergone this operation, without which they would be exposed to the inconveniences with which sour milk affects Europeans. ”

“ Where milk is to be used for infant-feeding, it should be drawn in a properly-kept cowshed, it should be cooled, placed for delivery in vessels of a suitable size for an individual infant’s meal, diluted or otherwise prepared as demanded by the age and special necessities of the case, and used as soon as possible. To-day the price of cow’s milk suitable for infant-feeding is so high that the lower classes find it almost impossible to obtain it. It is a matter of very great importance that good milk should be rendered available for the lower classes at a low price. ”

“ Cow's milk, immediately after calving, contains more butter and less caseine than milk produced some time later, when the specific character of ruminants begins to appear in the calf, that is to say, when it commences to graze the milk coagulates in the stomach. As in other mammals, an excess of fat helps digestion by subdividing the caseine and emulsifying it. But the milk of an animal recently calved is reserved for its young, and it is not until the time of weaning that the lacteal fluid is offered for human consumption. ”

“ The cow’s milk is partly manufactured in the udder at the time it is being drawn. The process is like digestion and is interfered with by any nervous tension or shock. The prick of a pin that will make a cow jump at the time of milking has been known to greatly reduce the butterfat of the milk given and at the same time to reduce the supply. Shepherd dogs that go after cows are likely to perform their labor at a very high cost in milk. A milk stool used as a weapon knocks a lot of money out of the farmer’s pocket. A rough milker who irritates a cow causes much trouble also. ”

“ Cow’s milk which comes from a herd of healthy cows, or at least several cows, is preferred to that which comes from a single animal, as it varies less in quality and elemental proportions. It is not necessary to order rich milk from highly bred Jersey and Alderney cows. In fact, physicians agree that the milk produced by ordinary grade cows in the herd is better suited to the needs of the child. ”

“ But in order to make cow’s milk as like the mother’s milk as possible, you must dilute it with water and add some sugar. At first the proportions should be at least equal parts of milk and water, with a small quantity of sugar; if the milk be very poor, a dessert spoonful of cream may be added to each meal with benefit. As cow’s milk soon turns acid, a tablespoonful of lime-water in each bottle is often useful in making it agree better with the child. ”

“ Where artificial feeding must be started early, cow’s milk is almost universally employed. Whenever possible, “certified milk” should be used; the ordinary milk, however, can be boiled with little or no harm. In diluting and preparing this milk, we have the choice of several methods. The so-called percentage feeding, favored in America, is difficult and cumbersome, and has no advantages over its simpler rivals. Pfaundler’s rule may be safely employed. It is as follows: One-tenth body-weight of milk, one one-hundredth body-weight of sugar diluted up to one liter ”

“ I have adhered very closely to the principle that modified cow’s milk is absolutely the best food for infants, if it is impossible to get mother’s milk, but many times when I have had the opportunity to follow these cases carefully I have had all sorts of stomach and bowel disturbances on cow’s milk until someone would suggest some other food, such as malted milk, or Mellin’s Food, or even condensed milk, which seems to be the farthest from the natural food, and then the babies would get along fairly well. ”

“ As examples of beef-cows look at the Shorthorns or the Herefords or the Polled Angus at the next State Fair you visit and notice the square, deep, smooth body with muscles and fat strongly developed in contrast to the loosely built, bony milk-cow with its tendency to turn all its food into milk at the expense of the body. There are, however, also among the Shorthorns, strains of good milkers, but as a rule these beef-breeds are not selected for the dairy farm, and “dual purpose” cows are not usually profitable. ”

“ The cow boys on the range rarely think of milking a cow that has lost her calf. The typical beef animals give so little milk that they can go dry at any time even on good grass with little or no injury to themselves. Some dairy cows would die even though sucked by a big husky calf if they were not milked, because they give so much more than the calf could take. The dairy cow is bred and trained for generations to digest all she can and to give it all away, keeping nothing with which to protect herself against hard times. ”

“ Of the two best farinacea, barley- and oat-meal, the latter is preferable as an addition to cow's milk, because of its greatly laxative effect. The percentage of cow's milk in the food ought to be more carefully watched than in other conditions. ”

“ Goat's milk best, cows milk next. If the child thrives on this nothing else should be given during the hot weather, until the front teeth are cut. Get fresh cow's milk twice a day if the child requires food in the night, pour it into a glass fruit jar with one-third pure water for a child under three months old, afterwards the proportion of water may be less and less, also a trifle of sugar may be added. ”

“ The calf is left to suck once or twice, which it will do as soon as it is able to stand. It should, in all cases, be permitted to have the first milk that comes from the cow, which is of a turbid, yellowish color, unfit for any of the purposes of the dairy, but somewhat purgative or medicinal, and admirably and wisely designed by nature to free the bowels and intestines of the new-born animal from the mucous, excrementitious matter always existing in them after birth. ”

“ Leeks are not the only weeds which taint the milk before it is taken from the cow. All rank vegetable growths lend a similar influence to injure flavor. Indeed, that which the cow eats is what she makes the milk of, and if these offensive things are taken into her system, she cannot be expected to turn out milk that will not partake of their qualities, any more than a man can be expected to make sweet cider of sour apples by running them through the mill and press. Even the atmosphere which the cows breathe affects the flavor of the milk. ”

“ In the modern dairy cow the tendency to lay on flesh, so highly developed in beef animals, has been largely eliminated, and in its place the ability to convert economically the food eaten into milk has been cultivated in a high degree. Continued breeding to a special purpose has changed the former short milking period, limited almost to the pasture season, to a comparatively even flow of milk during ten or eleven months of every year. A cow that does not average six or seven quarts of milk a day for 300 days in the year, aggregating 4000 pounds, is not considered very profitable. ”

“ When the modified milk can be obtained from a dairy laboratory where it is prepared with scientific care and accuracy, it is better to use it than to depend on home-made preparations, and in many cases a doctor’s prescription may be necessary. Even if the modified cow’s milk is prepared so as to contain apparently the same proportion of the various groups of nutrients as mother’s milk, there may still be some essential difference. ”

“ I have no doubt from what you say, that your cows are kept in the cow-house during the night, and only turned out during the day, as this would account for the difference in the quantity of milk. But such a mode of management, though it saves trouble to the dairy-maid, who finds it much easier to milk the cows in the cow-house than in the open field, is bad for both the cows and the dairy; as the cows, after feeding on grass all day, cannot of course relish dry food at night, and [Pg 310] whenever they fast unnaturally very little milk is secreted. ”

“ The cow that is from a stock famed as heavy milkers, does not tend to lay on flesh, but, on succulent diet especially, the greater part of the nutritive matter assimilated goes to the production of milk, and she remains thin in flesh no matter how heavily she may be fed. Many such cows never go dry, but give a liberal yield of milk up to the day of calving, and if measures are taken to dry them up, it is done at the expense of a sudden plethora, as the milk giving system does not at once accommodate itself to the laying up of fat and flesh. ”

“ The cow should not only be a good milker, but give milk suited to the line of dairying pursued. If cheese making is the object, there must be a large flow of milk rich in caseine. In butter making, a large flow of milk is not essential, but there must be a large percentage of fat in it. And the breeding must be such as to keep up the status of the herd. Some depend on purchasing cows, and exercise great care and judgment in so doing. In exceptional cases, a herd may be kept up in this way. But somebody must breed and rear good cows, or soon none can be had at any price. ”

“ Sometimes even fresh and good milk is found to disagree with a child. When this is the case it may be remedied by adding a little lime water to it previous to its being drunk. If it were practicable, and within the means of every family to keep their own cow, so that the infant could be fed with the milk directly it came from the animal, nature’s example in giving it direct from the mother’s breast might be followed. ”

“ Moreover, the purity or otherwise of the milk depends upon the cow’s food, and the state of its health. Doctors have testified to the fact that those who drink the milk of consumptive cows fall a prey to consumption themselves. It is very rare to come across a cow that is perfectly healthy. That is to say, perfectly pure milk is very hard to obtain, since it is tainted at its very source. Everybody knows that a child that sucks the breast of its mother contracts any disease that she might be suffering from. ”

“ The wandering cow feeds herself, in fact, from what might be the choicest product of her own milk, tramps the life out of much more, and tosses her head in disdain at much that if cut and properly fed in the stall, she would eat with a relish; so that it may be safely said that two, and some practical men say three, cows might be well-fed through soiling, on the same land that one is by the system of exclusive pasturing. ”

“ This last mode of milking is always practised when it is intended that a cow should be rendered dry.
Additional quantity of Milk to be gained by keeping Milch Cows in the house.—In the management of cows, a warm stable is highly necessary; and currying them like horses, not only affords them pleasure, but makes them give their milk more freely. They ought always to be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good sweet water to drink. Cows treated in this manner, have given ten gallons of milk at a time, when within ten days of calving. ”

“ The quantity of milk and butter is considerably increased, and the quality improved, by this practice. The milk is injured by remaining in the udder through the heat of the day, and the cow is made uncomfortable, which, of necessity, diminishes her usefulness. When cows are milked but twice a day in hot weather, the udder becomes too much heated and feverish, and the milk is in a similar condition—the cream seems to be melted, the milk soon becomes sour, the cream does not rise well, and the butter is soft and oily. ”

“ It is perhaps needless to state that the milk must be perfectly pure and unadulterated, and that it will fail of being this if yielded by an unhealthy cow. The animal’s food and habitat also exercise an important influence on the quality of the milk, that given by grass-fed cows roaming in open pastures undoubtedly being the best and richest. ”

“ Milk from a single cow is not to be desired for baby's food because of its liability to vary from day to day, not to mention the danger of the cow's becoming sick. Authorities have agreed that herd milk of Holstein or ordinary grade cows is best for infant feeding. This mixed-herd milk contains just about the proper percentage of fat; whereas, if Jersey milk must be used, some of the cream should be taken away. Our milk should come from healthy cows which have been tested for tuberculosis at least every three months. ”

“ For the first few days it should receive only the fresh milk of the cow; afterwards it may be fed on warm fresh milk, skim-milk, buttermilk, whey, and hay-tea, until it is old enough to subsist on solid food. Fresh milk should be the leading diet in the beginning, and should be gradually diminished in quantity as the calf increases in strength. ”

“ Different cows yield different qualities of milk; hence, when milk from any particular cow suits an infant, it has been found desirable not to change it.
The newer and fresher the milk the better is it adapted for the child’s use; that which has in the least become soured should be especially rejected. ”