Dairy worker

“ 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. ”

“ No matter what method of setting milk and churning may be adopted, there is a decided advantage in having the dairy house, or any other workshop, separate from the dwelling apartments, so that the work of the one shall in no way interfere with the work of the other. Almost all dairymen fail, to some extent, in not having the dairy house entirely separate. ”

“ Sickness in the family may sometimes compel the overtaxed housekeeper to neglect the dairy, or leave it for a short time in incompetent hands, who, either indolently or ignorantly, fail to give the milk-pans a thorough scalding, or leave the cream too long on the milk and too long unchurned, who do not understand salting or working over the butter ”

“ No branch of agricultural interests has changed so much and received such an impetus, especially within the last five years, as the dairy. Entire new modes of making butter and cheese and of setting milk have largely taken place of the old ones. Competition in making dairy products becomes keener each year, and every process by which the labor can be lessened, or the products be cheapened, meets with recompense. ”

“ Consequently, twice (or thrice) daily every day in the year, the dairy cows must be milked by manual labour. This is one of the main items of labour in dairying, and is a delicate and important duty. Assuming 10 cows per hour to a milker, which implies quick work, it requires the continuous service of an army of 300,000 men, working 10 or 12 hours a day throughout the year, to milk the cows kept in the United States.
The business of producing milk for urban consumption, with the accompanying agencies for transportation and distribution, has grown to immense proportions. ”

“ Purchase money may be completed at any time after nine years. Reliable particulars of successful dairying are difficult to obtain. It is safe to say that there are many hundreds of dairymen making comfortable livings throughout the State. [Pg 39]
Fodder Crops—Lucerne, Mangels, Rape.
[Pg 40]
Capital may be safely expended for dairy practice, especially by careful and intelligent men who have families, and they may depend upon making a good living, especially when they combine dairy practice with pig-raising. ”

“ A peculiar feature of the dairy industry is the fact that it is constantly moving. The dairy herds begin to pasture in the lowlands as soon as the snow melts, and as fast as the snow line recedes up the mountains the cattle follow. The milk is converted into butter and cheese wherever the herds may be, and the second crop of grass below them is cut and cured for winter forage. ”

“ As the business of the dairy would be suspended if every cow were allowed to rear its young, and butter, cheese, and cream become desiderata,—things to be desired, but not possessed, a system of economical husbandry becomes necessary, so as to retain our dairy produce, and yet, for some weeks at least, nourish the calf on its mother's milk, but without allowing the animal to draw that supply for itself: this, with the proper substituted food on which to rear the young animal, is called weaning. ”

“ The city milk supply comes from a large number of farmers who produce milk as a side issue. The methods of feeding and caring for cattle on these farms is in the main contrary to the instructions given by the dairy department at the State Farm. The men who made dairying a business here were learning and following agricultural college methods. They had good grade dairy cattle and produced fully twice as much per cow as do the farmers now in the business. ”

“ No wonder that some years ago the dairy was unoccupied and the office of milkman [pg 017] stood vacant. “At the present time,” says Dr. Rivers, “a dairyman is appointed about once a year and holds office for thirty or forty days only. So far as I could ascertain, the failure to occupy the dairy constantly is due to the very considerable hardships and restrictions which have to be endured by the holder of the office of dairyman, and the time is probably not far distant when this dairy, one of the most sacred among the Todas, will cease altogether to be used.”48 ”

“ It is to the paying yield of the cow what an untimely frost is to an unmatured corn crop. It is my firm belief that this is the great sin of the medium good dairyman of this and other dairy States,—the cause of the low average earnings of the cows; the reason why so many dairymen work so cheaply; the promoter of infidelity in the mind of the dairyman as to whether he has not made a mistake in entering upon the dairy business at all ”

“ An anonymous writer very truly remarks that the dairyman, by the force of circumstances, has to become versed in the breeding and management of stock, especially that of dairy breeds; hence, in the very nature of things, he becomes a thoughtful, studious, observing man, and, what is better, he attains a higher intelligence. The advantages of dairying call out, among other things, enhanced revenues, because butter and cheese have become necessities; it enriches the farm, and is perfectly adapted to foster the breeding and raising of better and more stock. ”

“ The supply of milk is conducted, to a large extent, by towns' dairies, which depend for their supplies upon the dairy farm in the country, and 76it is obvious that a certain period of time must elapse, in the generality of cases, before a town's dairy receives its supply in the ordinary course, and this constitutes the greatest difficulty in modern dairy practice, owing to the liability of the milk to absorb bacteria, which during transit may multiply enormously. ”

“ That cooling of the milk alone is a process that requires more labour to carry it out. Artificial manures are spread abroad on the pastures. The dairy farmer has to a considerable extent awakened to the times, and, like the arable agriculturist, is endeavouring to bring modern appliances to bear upon his business. To those who recollect the old style of dairy farmer the change seems marvellous indeed. Nowhere was the farmer more backward, more rude and primitive, than on the small dairy farms. ”

“ Each man goes through the usual ordination ceremony and then receives one of the new mu containing some of the new pep, which he takes to his dairy. Each new dairyman also provides new dairy vessels, and, when he reaches his dairy, purifies the mu and the new dairy things in the way already described. He puts the vessels into the dairy and then goes to milk, taking some of the new pep in his milking-vessel, and thereafter matters go on as usual. Each new dairyman fasts while going to his dairy with the new pep, although the rest of the people are feasting. ”

“ The duties of the dairy-maid differ considerably in different districts. In Scotland, Wales, and some of the northern counties, women milk the cows. On some of the large dairy farms in other parts of England, she takes her share in the milking, but in private families the milking is generally performed by the cowkeeper, and the dairy-maid only receives the milkpails from him morning and night, and empties and cleans them preparatory to the next milking; her duty being to supply the family with milk, cream, and butter, and other luxuries depending on the "milky mothers" of the herd. ”

“ It has always kept an open mind on the subject of dairy methods, especially relating to the handling of milk and cream in large cities, and in practice have kept fully abreast of scientific research.
EVERY housewife should be interested enough in the purity of the milk and cream that she uses in her household to personally inspect the Dairy from which the supply comes. A visit to the City Dairy is a liberal education in all pertaining to methods for clarifying, pasteurizing, and delivering in bottles, "air-tight," safe and wholesome milk. ”

“ In the regular operations of the dairy, however economically conducted, there will always be more or less refuse in the shape of whey, butter-milk, or skim-milk, which may be consumed with profit by swine, and which might otherwise be lost. Dairy-fed pork is distinguished for its fineness and delicacy; and the dairy refuse, in connection with grains, potatoes, and scraps, is highly nutritious and fattening.
There is a wide difference between the profit to be derived from the different breeds. Some are far more thrifty than others, and arrive at maturity earlier. ”

“ The management of this important department in a country establishment, from the milking of the cows, to the making of the butter and the cheese, must necessarily be almost wholly intrusted to a dairy maid, who ought to be experienced in the various duties of her office, or she cannot be skilful in the performance of them. Those persons who have excelled in dairy work, have generally learnt their business when quite young, as a knowledge of it is not to be hastily acquired. ”

“ Instead of a few homely and inconvenient implements for use in the laborious duties of the dairy, generally devolving upon the women of the farm, perfected appliances skillfully devised to accomplish their object and lighten labor are provided all along the way. The factory system of coöperative or concentrated manufacture has so far taken the place of home dairying, that in entire States the cheese vat or press is as rare as the hand-loom, and in many counties it is as hard to find a farm churn as a spinning-wheel. ”

“ The business of the dairy, like the feeding of hogs and poultry, is originally carried on as a save-all. The cattle necessarily kept upon the farm produce more milk than either the rearing of their own young, or the consumption of the farmer's family requires; and they produce most at one particular season. But of all the productions of land, milk is perhaps the most perishable. In the warm season, when it is most abundant, it will scarce keep four-and-twenty hours. The farmer, by making it into fresh butter, stores a small part of it for a week ”

“ Adding to this the skim-milk, butter-milk and whey, at their proper feeding value, and the calves dropped yearly, the annual aggregate value of the produce of the dairy cows exceeds $500,000,000, or is more than one hundred million pounds sterling. Accepting these estimates as conservative, they show that the commercial importance of the dairy industry of the United States is such as to justify all reasonable provisions for guarding its interests. ”

“ Farmer A. raises cattle, hogs, and sheep for breeding purposes, devotes some attention to fine horses, and keeps thirty-six cows for dairy purposes. Farmer B. devotes his entire attention to dairying and has invested in dairy cows as much money as A. has in all his stock. Is it not evident that though each farmer began life the same year, the latter man will make the most money, providing the section he is in demands dairy work? ”

“ At the same time the fact has not been overlooked, that to breed and perpetuate a profitable dairy stock, regard must be had to hardiness and strength of constitution, and also to such fattening tendencies as will insure a profitable return from calves fattened for veal, from steers reared for beef, and for cows, which having served their turn in the dairy, are at last dried of their milk and prepared for the shambles. ”

“ The large heap of manure being dried up by the sun in the midst of the farm-yard, has a look of unthriftiness, whilst the small, dark, and ill-ventilated dairies make us wonder that the manufacture of the famous Brie cheese should be the profitable thing it is. At one farm we visited, we saw thirty-six splendid Normandy cows, the entire milk produce of which was used for cheese-making. Yet nothing could be worse than the dairy arrangements from a hygienic point of view, and the absolute cleanliness requisite for dairy work was wanting. ”

“ They work eight hours a day, their wages being about eleven dollars a week.
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Next to sheep raising, dairying is the great farming industry of the Dominion. There are in the two islands more than a million dairy cows and heifers and the government does everything in its power to encourage the breeding of fine stock and the production of good milk, butter, and cheese. It advances money to dairy companies for acquiring land and machinery and setting up buildings. The loans must be repaid within fifteen years, and the rate charged is five per cent. ”

“ The farmer and some of his family went home with the dairy-man, and found the milk like it often is in summer when the buck (spittle-fly) is on the grass, that, so it is believed, makes milk curdle then without becoming sour. The farmer and his wife couldn't tell what to think of milk being in that state early in spring; he took home the cow, however, and let the dairy-man have another, and when she was milked by Jemmy her milk 'runned' too, like that of the former one, which was then all right in the master's dairy. ”