Page:The story of milk.djvu/36

 Milking machine

In the partly covered milk-pail dust does not fall as readily as in the one entirely open

Milking.—The cows are usually milked twice a day; occasionally, when the highest possible yield is desired, as in important tests, three or four times. The first five days after the birth of the calf the milk,—the Colostrum so called,—is not normal and should not be used for human consumption. It may be fed to the calf. The first three to four months the yield of milk generally is higher than later, when it gradually drops until after about ten months it stops altogether and the cow goes "dry" at least for some six weeks before dropping the next calf. The highest annual yield may be obtained by having the cows "come in" in the Fall or early Winter and feeding them well all Winter to keep up an abundant flow of milk. Then, when they come out on pasture in the Spring,—in the latitude of the Great Lakes about May 15th,—the fresh, rich feed will stimulate production and give it a fresh start so that the milk-pail may continue to be filled during the next few months and the shrinkage of the yield will