Milker

“ No cow, of any class, is ever a good milker, that has not a large surface of hair growing upward from the teats and covering the inner surface of the thighs, and extending up toward or to the tail.
No cow that is destitute of this mark, or only has a very small one, is ever a good milker. Every cow having a scanty growth of coarse hair in the above mark will only give poor, watery milk; and every cow having a thick growth of fine hair on the escutcheon, or surface where it ascends, and considerable dandruff, will always give good rich milk, and be good for butter and cheese. ”

“ The manner of milking exerts a more powerful and lasting influence on the productiveness of the cow than most farmers are aware of. That a slow and careless milker soon dries up the best of cows, every practical farmer and dairyman knows; but a careful examination of the beautiful structure of the udder will serve further to explain the proper mode of milking, to obtain and keep up the largest yield. ”

“ Each milker knows her place, and, if any young heifers try to be fresh, and show off too much, they get a hint from the horns of the old ladies of the herd, that they had better know and keep their place. ”

“ The very slow milker, as well as the quick, jerky milker, who never strips the cow thoroughly, are helping to make a large number of our cows unprofitable. Six o'clock in the morning and six o'clock in the evening are by far the best hours to do the milking. ”

“ A cow regularly, gently, yet quickly and thoroughly milked, will give much more than if neglected. If a herd of cows be separated into two divisions, each yielding the same quantity of milk, and one is given to a good milker, and the other to a shiftless or lazy one, the latter will speedily reduce his milk much below the quantity obtained by the former; and if the milkers then exchange cows, they will be found to change quantity too, those before affording the least, soon giving the most. An indifferent milker ought never to be tolerated in a herd, good ones are cheaper at double the price. ”

“ Rigid rules of cleanliness are carried out in every detail with the greatest exactness. The house and the animals are cared for all the time as if on inspection. Before milking, the udders are carefully brushed and washed, and the milker covers himself entirely with a clean apron. As each cow is milked, the milker hangs the pail on a spring balance and registers the exact weight on a blackboard. He then carries the milk through the door that leads to the dairy-house, and pours it into a tank on wheels. ”

“ The milker should be in close contact with the cow’s body, for in this position, if she attempt to kick him, he gets nothing more than a push, whereas if he sits off at a distance, the cow has an opportunity to inflict a severe blow whenever she feels disposed to do so. ”

“ But we may safely venture on raising the calves of a good milker, as the probabilities are that the offspring will inherit the qualities of the sire, while it may also inherit the qualities of the dam, though she be of the most mongrel or mixed blood. ”

“ The best milker does not furnish more than half a gallon per diem. Kavalli’s boys and young men were employed in milking our cattle. They invariably lashed the hind legs together, and brought the calf to its mother’s head; one hand held the wooden vessel and the other milked, and they appeared to leave but little for the hungry calves. The goats often gave us as much milk as an ordinary cow, but I have never observed that the natives cared for the fair supply they might have obtained from these useful animals. ”

“ It may be remarked, at the outset, that the fact that the best of the signs of a great and good milker adopted by Guénon are generally found united with the best forms and marks almost universally admitted and practised upon by good judges, gives, at least, some plausibility to the system, while the importance of it, if it be correct, is sufficient to demand a careful examination. Every good judge of a milch cow, for instance, wants to see in her a small, fine head, with short and yellowish horns ”

“ From what has been said on the various characteristics of the different breeds of cattle, it must be evident, that no very definite criteria of excellence can be given for all good dairy cows. But there are certain points in a good milker, that can hardly be mistaken. ”

“ The milker should be clean in all respects; he should not use tobacco while milking; he should wash and dry his hands just before milking. 24. The milker should wear a clean outer garment, used only when milking and kept in a clean place at other times. ”

“ The heaviest milkers have this mark, usually on the middle of the back, and the richest, with short fine hair. In short, the nearer the middle of the back, and the smaller the quirl and the finer the hair, the most generally will the cow be the better milker and of the richest quality. ”

“ Though very excellent milkers will sometimes be found in all of them, and of a great variety of forms, the most desirable dairy qualities will generally be found to have become fixed and permanent characteristics of some to a greater extent than of others; but it does not follow that a race whose milking qualities have not been developed is of less value for other purposes, and for qualities which have been brought out with greater care. ”

“ In other words, its presence is a good sign, while its absence is not necessarily a cause for distrust. Milk-veins, as an indication for milking capacity, are of about the same value as the escutcheon.”
“The editor of the Jersey Bulletin, in commenting on this, says:
“We should be very glad to know of a cow, worthy to be called an ‘excellent milker’—duration of the flow after becoming pregnant being one of the tests—which has no escutcheon at all, or a very small one. ”

“ Great milkers are found of all shapes, and the chief object of improving their form is to improve their feeding qualities, or, in other words, to unite, as far as possible, the somewhat incompatible properties of grazing and milking. Graceful, well-rounded, and compact forms, which constitute beauty in the eyes of the grazier, as well as in the estimation of those not accustomed to consider the intrinsic qualities of an animal, or not capable of appreciating them in a milch cow, will very rarely be found united, to any considerable extent, with active mammary glands or milk vessels. ”

“ To raise up first-rate milkers, it is absolutely necessary to feed on dairy food even when they are young. No matter how fine the breed is, if the calf is raised on poor, short feed, it will never be so good a milker as if raised on better keeping; and hence, in dairy districts, where calves are raised at all, they ought to be allowed the best pasture during the [183] summer, and good, sweet and wholesome food during the winter. ”

“ Preston said, in a pleasant tone:
“Mind your milking, Clinty, and postpone your stories until you get through. You haven’t learned yet to milk well and talk at the same time.”
Milking is an operation that ought to be done rapidly and without interruption, to be thoroughly and properly performed. Conversation is very apt to distract the attention of the milker, and thus interfere with his work, as it did in the case of Clinton.
The milking was soon completed, and the boys, as they drove the cows to pasture, talked as fast as they pleased. ”

“ Yet, with all the skill of a well-practised taste in the selection of animals, the dairyman will frequently find his theories and results at sad variance. One may sometimes select a fine animal, with every appearance of good milking qualities, which is but a medium cow at the pail; and another, that hardly seems worthy of notice, and which sets at defiance many established milking points, and all preconceived notions of symmetry, may yet prove a good milker. A cow that runs to flesh while in milk, is generally an indifferent animal for the [Pg 61] dairy. ”

“ It is well known that certain signs or marks of great milkers are developed, only as the capacities of the animal herself are fully and completely developed by age. The milk-veins, for instance, are never so large and prominent in heifers and young cows as in old ones, and the same may be said of the udder, and of the veins of the udder and perineum; all of which it is of great importance to observe in the selection of milch cows. ”

“ The milker can wear a clean white gown or linen duster which should be washed every two days, while his hands should be washed just before the milking. The milking pail should be of the covered sanitary order. ”

“ Fig. 14. Oakes Cow.
The flesh on the hindquarters of most large milkers bears little proportion to the bone; the hips protrude, the pelvis is broad, the legs far apart, giving great space for the receptacle of large milk-vessels; whilst great flow of blood to the milky glands, incident to this peculiar structure, keeps them in more constant and greater activity than any other organs, so that the muscles develop less than they otherwise would, remain slender, and leave the buttocks and thighs small and narrow. ”

“ Still there is a great difference in milkers, as well as in cows, the man or woman with a good grip in the hand having decidedly the advantage, both as regards ease and expedition—and it is quite important that the milk should all be quickly and continuously drawn from the cow after the milking is begun, and while the cow is in the mood of "giving down." ”

“ It is not the same in an animal designed for beef and in one designed fer the dairy or for work. The beauty of a milch cow is the result of her good qualities. Large milkers are very rarely cows that please the eye of any but a skilful judge. They are generally poor, because their food goes mainly to the production of milk, and because they are selected with less regard to form than to good milking qualities. We meet with good milkers of all forms, from the round, close-built Devon to the coarsest-boned scrub ”

“ The best milkers often look coarse and flabby; for, even if their bony structure is good and symmetrical, they will appear, especially when in milk, to have large, raw bones and sharp points, particularly if they are largely developed in the hind quarters, which is most frequently the case, as is strikingly seen in the form of the Oakes cow, a native animal, the most celebrated of her time, in Massachusetts, and winner of the first premium at the State Fair of 1816. ”

“ Every precaution ought to be taken in the choice of milkers. When this manual work is roughly performed, it becomes painful to the cow; but if a soft hand be gently applied, the animal seema rather to receive pleasure, and allows the milk to flow plentifully; as she possesses the singular faculty of retaining or parting with her milk. ”

“ When he considers that he has finished milking he lets the cows out with their calves and carries the milk down to the dairy, where he has a heated argument with his mother, who—judging from the quantity of milk—has reason to believe that he has slummed some of the milkers. ”

“ At milking-time, which the dogs know as well as the men, the animals are driven inside by their faithful guardians, and milking begins busily. The young ones are generally left outside to graze or play, under the watchful eyes of the dogs, who see that they do not wander too far away. Inside the fold the noise is really deafening. The reindeer run to and fro, giving loud cries and throwing their heads about; which, as their horns are very big, is not pleasant for the milkers. ”

“ The race is susceptible of breeding for the production of milk, as several families show, and great milkers have often been known among pure-bred animals; but it is more common to find it bred mainly for the butcher, and kept accordingly. It is, however, a well-known fact that the dairies of London are stocked chiefly with short-horns and Yorkshires, or high grades between them, which, after being milked as long as profitable, feed equal, or nearly so, to pure-bred short-horns. ”

“ As a rule the daughters of a sow which gives but a small quantity of milk, and that of an inferior quality, are also cursed with the same grievous failings, but this does not appear to be universally the case, since the milking qualities of the dam descend through her sons, so that if the female progenitors of the boar have been good milkers it is probable that the boar's daughters may be able to rear their pigs [Pg 64] successfully, even if their dam had not been in the habit of suckling her pigs well. ”

“ I was perfectly delighted, because I got more milk from Winnie than either Gibbie or Dab has been getting. When I was in the mountains one summer I took regular lessons in milking, for the mountain folk milk beautifully, whereas the negroes are generally poor milkers. They never can take all the milk, and if you do not keep the calf to take the balance when the milking is over, the cow will go dry in a very short time. Leave a pint to-day and to-morrow there is that much less, and so on, a pint less every day. The cow is soon only fit to turn out to pasture. ”

“ Have a care that you do your work well to-day, young man. Drive the milkers to the [262] high meadows where the grass is green and sweet. Drive the oxen and the yearlings to the woodlands; let them browse among the bushes and lie down in shady places. See that you guard them all to keep them safe from wily wolves and lurking bears. Watch them well, and when the day is almost done, bring them home. Woe be to you if you leave one of them behind. Bring them home and drive the milkers into the paddock; then call loudly, and I will come down with the milkmaids to milk them. ”

“ But, unfortunately, very few herds are to be found where attention has been paid to breeding for milk; and great milkers are the exception, and very rarely met with among the pure breeds. In their native country they are bred almost exclusively for beef. The estimation in which they are held as dairy stock, even by Devon breeders themselves, both in England and in this country, has been shown in the low value placed upon the development of the udder in the establishment of the scale of points spoken of on a preceding page ”

“ Like the Herefords, they are poor milkers; for while their milk is rich, the quantity is small, and they usually go dry for several months of the year. They were first imported into this country about 1850, and in 1883 nine hundred were imported and distributed among the cattle breeders of the plains. ”