Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/257

 high, and hams thin, to allow of the udder being large, tail long and slim. The udder should extend well back and in front, and be soft and flabby when milked out, and when full, of wedge shape and powerful looking.

At two years of age you will find a wrinkle at the base of the cow's horns, but it is not fully developed till she turns three. When five years old another wrinkle will form, and after five she will get a new one each year of her life. So her age can be told in this way.

Many families buy a cow to supply the family with milk. Where there is a good town common or plenty of green pasturage on the outskirts of the town, the custom is to turn her out directly after milking in the morning, and either trust to her coming home to be fed at night, or else going or sending for her. A cow will not come home unless she is fed regularly, or she has a young calf at home to come to. But when a cow is bought for the purpose of supplying milk, it is wisest to get rid of the calf as soon as possible, as then you have less trouble, and all the milk. And it generally pays to feed a good cow if there are many young children in the family to benefit by the milk. You will not only get more by feeding, but it will be richer. But there is a vast difference in feeding, and a cow kept only for her milk should be fed to supply it. If she has access to plenty of grass, twice a day, that is, night and morning will be often enough to feed her, and then give a bucketful of warm water with two or three quarts of bran or light meal of some kind in it. Green sugar cane is excellent for a milking cow, especially if mollasses is cheap enough for you to use with it. The milking cows of the sugar plantations are often fed upon this, and do very well. A cow which has no calf must be milked quite dry, not a drop left. Brewer's grains are good food for milch cows, they are not fattening, but will make milk. They are also good for young growing pigs, and for poultry.

First and foremost, a hint that every man who milks a cow should bear in mind is never to make her afraid of him. A cow that is frightened, worried, or fretted in the least never does her best. She becomes nervous and irritable, however good tempered she may naturally be. The system of bailing up with a huge stick in the hand is bad, and the man who strikes the cow when trying to bail up, or for restlessness in the yard or bail, if he be a hired servant should be at once discharged, as he will do more harm