MILKING
The cow’s milk is partly manufactured in the udder at the time it is
being drawn. The process is like digestion and is interfered with by
any nervous tension or shock. The prick of a pin that will make a
cow jump at the time of milking has been known to greatly reduce the
butterfat of the milk given and at the same time to reduce the supply.
Shepherd dogs that go after cows are likely to perform their labor at
a very high cost in milk. A milk stool used as a weapon knocks a lot
of money out of the farmer’s pocket. A rough milker who irritates a
cow causes much trouble also. If I were to judge a dairyman by just
one thing I could tell most about him by noticing how well the cows
liked to have him milk them. Where a cow has to dance to the jerking of
rough hands and listen to profanity of the milker, that is plenty of
information to decide that on that farm dairying does not pay. There
are few cows that will treat a milker any better than he treats them.
For sanitary reasons I do not believe in milking with wet hands, but
if a cow’s udder is caked, the best cure that I know is to draw the
milk into the hands very slowly and rub it into the caked udder until
it is absorbed through the skin. I do not know or care why, but there
is something about a cow’s milk that is good for her caked udder when
applied to the outside. One treatment of an hour’s duration, milking
the milk a stream at a time and working it into the caked udder, is
often sufficient to cure even bad cases. Cow’s teats should never be
allowed to get sore, for clean milk can not be produced from sore,
bleeding teats. It may be necessary to apply antiseptic medicines when
they are sore, but a good way to keep the teats soft and pliable so the
cow will not be irritated by milking is to take the last streams or two
in the udder, milk it into the hand and use it to rub into the teat.
The solids in the last streams of milk are about one-half butterfat and
this greases the teat with the best kind of grease that I know.
Having employed a great many men on the farm I have found from
experience that two out of three do not know how to milk. Of these,
some can be taught but many are not worth bothering with. Many are too
rough and many do not seem to be able to get all the milk from the
udder. To get all the milk from one quarter of the udder the milker
should use both hands, using one hand above the teat to squeeze the
milk into the teat and with the other hand milk it into the pail.