FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 30 March 1904, Page 6

FARM AND STATION.

THE ART OF 3HLKI3G. The results of an experiment recent ly carried out- with the object of determining to what extent the milk capacity of cow* was influenced by quick or by slow milking will doubtless be of interest to owners of dairy herds. Five cows were milked for a period of a month by two persons, *ne of whom did his milking in the usual way, while the other was informed of the fact that an experiment was in progress, and was requested to milk the cows as - thoroughly as he could . and in the shortest possible space of time. The two milkers were given the cows for periods of a fortnight each, with the result thai in the case of the one who was unaware of the experiment the yield of milk of the fire cows during the time he milked them was B6gal ; while the sams cows in charge of the man who was aware of the experiment, and who milked them as rapidly and completely as ha could, amounted to H2gal in the fortnight. There was thus % gain of 26gal in favour of the man who "" adopted the more rapid and thorough system. In a paper read before the British Dairy farmers' Association by Mr Primrose M'Connell, a well-known expert in dairy farming mutters, valuable information is afforded regarding the secretion of milk^ in tho udder, though he admits that our 1 knowledge is still incomplete, and he urges ■forcible reasons why the milking process should receive special attention. He says : ■"It is now known that it is wholly through the result of nervous action that the blood lymph acd calls of the jtls&ue of the udder l>eeonie 'mobilised' into milk, and ws further -know that this formation of the milk largely takes place after the operation of iailMng has begun. This is why the gentle treatment of the animal has so much to do with her milk yield ; if she is hunted ■with dogs to begin with, and afterwaids roughly treated in the milking, the nervous excitement reacts upon the tissues of the udder and prevents the secretion of the milk, and, in coniaaon language, she does not let it down.' Anything that excites her or ruffles her temper has the same effect, and fhe has not of herself the power to either let it down or hold it up, and the milk will only now readily v. hen she treated in such a way as to make her ileased and contented. 1 '"

I having her teats, handled in a way similar to the sucking of the calf, to ths che-n ing I oi her end. and generally to being in a • pleasant and contented fry me of mind, j Gentle, kindly treatment conduces to this, I v.hile rough usage of any kir.'l lands to i the contrary, and the cow i;iiknovi ingly ! "holds uj>'' her milk and goes down in ■ yield. While kindness and gentleness ] can do much in making a cow a quiet ar.d < ! good milker — especially ■«hen fir^t in milk ! as a haifer — lliers ai'e still ahrays some j which vrill kick and ups>Pt a pail when i being milked. For such the sliap or belt ! mu?i bo used on the hind legs, though I often it can be dispensed with aftei a time. j Milking should be dune quickly, quietly, ( and thoroughly. There should b-s no milk y F«8? in the udder, as doing .«o tends to tagf.3§ the animal, and for this lea^on Mr -Tr^Snnell from his extensive experience is an advocate of stripping out — that is, -some responsible person going round alter the. others and squeezing out the i last drops. It is unnecessary to say that these stripping? are the richest part of the yield, while this plan ensures the animals being milked diy, and thu« having tbeir yielding power developed. Cows should bs milked indoors : it is mora comfortable for them and for the attendcints, so, while they can be the mor-9 easily fed with whatever extra, focd they are getting. In hct weather they ought io bo put indoors during the afler- ! noon, and either get some grem forage |or sloppy artificial food. lliis iehe-. en I thsm from the torment of the fhe=j, as ; there is nothing thpt reduces their yield more quickly than galloping r-bout in fly tinae with their tails up like c?li. Washing ovci 1 with sheep-dip (ncn-poiscn-ms) or I carbolic soap helps the cow* in this re- ■ ppect, and enables them io stand more ; quietlj r during milklnj, with less of the*- • tail-whisking practice ; for a l"/:h rcvC^s | tli9 face whh a cow's tail ia l.v'j to ruffle J the attendant's temper, and leaut di?a^- > trously on tha milk yield. I Cows should be milked 12 hours apart, i but an hour or jc barfcwards or frr-wards jis really of very little consequence, so ! long as it is kept to regul-irly. Regularity is the main point in this connecs tion ; cows are very much creatures of | habit, and look to have certain things ' done at certain times, and irregularity ( fidgets them, with a consequent fall oS in I yield. In England some owners, of daily herds causa their milkers to change their , animals every meal, so that each has a j turn at the tough ones. "I ho animah very soon get to know those that work

abou' v them, but a continual change of attendants would do great harm. As Mr M'Connell sensibly lemarks : "A continual succession of "prentice hands tuggiug away at a. cow would disgust any self-respecting animal, and effectually prevent her from yielding copiously." In ordinaiy practice a boy or girl is' introduced from time to time to the honourable company of milkers, raid put on to animals which are going dry. After &onie practice on these, and when licked into fhape a little and their natural tendency to lick ihe cows somewhat curbed, they stvz put on to better cows, and &o brought forvvard ; but where a number are being so introduced to the cows the effect, must be di-'a&trous.

Tiicra c;n bo little doubi that the milkin y of covis has done a very great deal tc .yards tho development of th?ir -milking power. In a state of r.oture a coinpaiativel/ small quantity oi milk is required br the calf, and ib i* di\rrn out at* iriegiilar intcrvaK Whc:i the tissues and vessels or a con-'.s uud.cr become swelled ready to becomo transposed into milk, and the transposition is nol allowed to take place by tl:o \. illidrawal of some at the teolf- 1 , this material is reabsorbed by the lymphatics b.ick into the general circulatory systsiji of the cow, and the secreting power of the cells becomes weakened, and die cow gicidi:aJly dries up. Ihis is v, liat happ.ns uhtn a calf si:cks its uioLhcr, and - thus suckling prevents fhs development, of deep milking, and checks thoe which are deep to begin with. We intentionally puj> this principle into practice when v> c -dry oft" a coy. ; we do not milk her at all unless and until she is chstretsed with a distended milk h?-, and the Fecretion of milk soon stops altogether. In the artificial miikino- O l a. cow Are di-R-n ofi all that she can possibly produce, and far more than any ono calf could need, and thus give the F-'ecreiinV tissu'-s free play; vvd from the action" of the Ealural law that -exercise develops tli3 exerci&ed p?rr, c-ithsr in the milk vessel of a cow or the calf of the leg of a man bred among the hills, the v.dcbr is stimulated to yield More. Quickness, quietness, gfntlene^s, and oiicr conditions relating to the art of milking, oil help this development : while our arlifichj treatment in the way oi selcctln- the individual animals lioiiMng txieni, feeding wdl, and so on' improves ths milk secretion. On« great source of dread to a milker w somo form of nnmmilis, or gaiget. This is generally the result of a chill and in the initial stags is simply catnn-h of the udder or '-need," but endino- i n the curdling of the- milk. Cows lying °on low, damp fields, Jr in cold weather turned out. too soon after calving— when the udder is ■in a mil anu swelled state, — are most apt to contract _+hp. trouble, while a. blow or inefficient milking may also cause it. A mixture of one part of turpentine to three parts tincture of c.unphor, well rubbed in to the affected parts, is th-e most efficacious remedy Mr M'Connell has corns across. For sore or chapped teats vaseline is the best application. For tough, milkers the small ivory cones, for distending the orifice of the teat are valuable ; while in very bud cases the teat vktoury may be used for actually cutting a wider opening ; but these nave to be rsed with very gieat care, for if the air is allowed into the teat or ths operation done in a bungling fashion, ihsre is f-uie to be curdling pud gathering of offenfive matter. The same remarks apply to the syphon, or milking tube-*, which are often of great valuu where the milking of the teat gives pain to a cow.

Regaiding milking machines, Mr M'Connel viiltes guardedly. '"There -wcis never much difficulty," he pays, '"in extracting The bulk oi the milk from a cow's udder by Hie ordinary sucking achon of a pump, bnl the difficult}- vs'^s to tyke out the la.se drop, and also to imyiove the flow by giving the mental stimitlus to the cow that we obtaif in hpr.d-niilkl.ig by handling the teats." The introduction, of the pulsation action in the recently-invented machines is so id to have accomplished this, and anyone who is troubled about obtaining good milkers should make inquiries about them.

Hie inlrouuulion of &neh maehinei'y will, of course, be very gradual, and where a farmer can get plenty of fjood milkers at a reasonable rate there i.-. r.o inducement to erect a set of auuaiatus. A machine

which will milk the cows quickly, quietly, and thoioughly will likewise stimulate Uii flow of milk a,ud gain a larger yield, while enabling a man to keep as large a herd as his land will carry, vnd not merely as large as be can find time to milk night and morning. The milking of the ccws has hitherto formed a great natural protection against overproduction of dairy produce.