During the heat of summer, the cow should be milked three times a day,
at regular intervals—about five o’clock in the morning, one in the
afternoon, and at nine in the evening. 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. These
difficulties, almost universally attending butter-making at this time of
the year, are mostly overcome by the practice of milking three times a
day, and the cow being near at hand, it is a small matter.
The length of time a cow should be milked, will depend on her
capabilities for giving milk a longer or shorter time. Some will give
milk the year round, while others will “go dry” three or four months, or
longer, in spite of all efforts to keep them in milk a longer period.
But, as a rule, it is better for a cow to go dry some eight weeks,
giving time for fleshing up a little, and gaining strength for another
season. The cow will be more vigorous, and the flow of milk more abundant
afterward.