JUVENILE MILKERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12906, 21 February 1906, Page 3

JUVENILE MILKERS.

Mr Alex Reese, of Pahiatua, writes to the Wellington "Post":—"I notice that a gentleman whom jou conferred with has said, 'I think that the milking of six or ten cows is not aft excessive hardship to a child.' Xow, this word ' child,' as applied in this connection, is. I think, an abuse of terms, as it would take a sturdy boy or girl of, say, 10 to 12 years of age to put through, say. 6 fairly-easy cows in one hour and twenty minutes of steady graft, and assuredly such a boy or girl would resent being referred to as a ' child.' Moreover, I think that a boy or girl who milks 5 or six cows, and then goes to school, has already performed a, heroic task by earning more than is necessaiy to keep him. There are. of course, little' dots who go into the milking- shed, and. if you think of it, a little child can ' often save the time of a strong" man by driyinf » cow into- tie bail. And why

not? seeing that a child drifts as naturally towards the cowshed in the morning to get a drink of new milk as he does towards his cot in the evening. "That is the beginning of most of the They want a drink of warm milk. ' I have seen a boy four and a half years old drive a cow into the bail, put the leg-rope on, sit down ami squirt into his pannikin enough to satisfv his wants, and then retire with as much" complacency as an archbishop. I saw the same br.y. r.t six years of age, milk one or two cows almost regularly night and mr.ruing: and when 10 years old, he could put through four or five with the best c,i them, and then go to school. Now, my view of the whoie position is this: Next. to giving a 'child' or a growing b v or girl plenty of food and sleep comes* tho need of healthy exercise. And as there is not an arduous task in the whole course of milk production,. I cannot think of another occupation so suitable as this is for the proper development and employment of the you::g."