Post by william on Jun 27, 2009 8:20:21 GMT -5
Many folks seem to be a bit comtemptous when it comes to farming and country living. But what they do not realize is without farms they would soon go very hungry.
But a farm is much more then just a place where food is grown. At one time just about everyone was a farmer or a hunter. It was the only way to survive!
To be a farmer, a person has to be commited for life to really succeeded at this occupation. Farming is a long term thing.
I was not actually born on a farm and for the first 14 years I did not live on a farm. But that did not prevent me from developing a deep love for that kind of life. Elsewhere on this site you will find the story of my very first friend Charlie And he was a farmer!
Charlie had a dairy farm. Some of my first memories were at milking time. The years I will tell about were in the late 1930's.
Milking was done by hand. Milking machines had not become the normal or everyday apparatus quite yet. A shiney pail and a very low stool plus a pair of strong hands and fingers was all it took to milk a cow. Most cows would stand quietly to be milked but there seemed always to be one or two cows who were ticklish or just plain contrary. And they might kick the bejabbers out of you.
A cow like that could very easily find herself on a truck headed for the butcher shop. In later years I had a few cows like that myself.
My memory is quite sketchy from those days but the milking process was pretty much the same from farm to farm. In the summertime the cows were herded into their individual stalls. They soon learned exactly where to go. As soon as each cow was in her place she was fastened in by a tie chain or a metal or wooden stantion. These stantions kept the individual cows from stealing grain or fighting with each other.
Cows seem to have a sense of humor of their own. They tend to poop both coming into the barn and leaving it. As if the dairyman does not have enough to do!
When things have settled down a little it's time to begin extracting the milk. A cow has the ability to release her milk or to hold it back. Normally they will release it with no hesitation when you sit down on the low stool with your pail. A high producing cow will sometimes begin to leak or even run a stream of milk all by herself without even being touched. It is a pleasure to milk a cow like this one. Other cows need a little more persuasion and a bit of tender loving massage to start the milk flowing. A warm wash cloth can do wonders to help the process..
The very first milk that is produced after giving birth to a calf is called colostrum. It is thicker in consistancy and yellowish color. It helps the calf to start the digestive system process. Some cows wont even allow their own calves to nurse them. And some calves are so contrary that they need a bit of personal instruction to find the milk spigots. This can be a really frustrating and time consuming job for any farmer to say the least.
Bummy74
But a farm is much more then just a place where food is grown. At one time just about everyone was a farmer or a hunter. It was the only way to survive!
To be a farmer, a person has to be commited for life to really succeeded at this occupation. Farming is a long term thing.
I was not actually born on a farm and for the first 14 years I did not live on a farm. But that did not prevent me from developing a deep love for that kind of life. Elsewhere on this site you will find the story of my very first friend Charlie And he was a farmer!
Charlie had a dairy farm. Some of my first memories were at milking time. The years I will tell about were in the late 1930's.
Milking was done by hand. Milking machines had not become the normal or everyday apparatus quite yet. A shiney pail and a very low stool plus a pair of strong hands and fingers was all it took to milk a cow. Most cows would stand quietly to be milked but there seemed always to be one or two cows who were ticklish or just plain contrary. And they might kick the bejabbers out of you.
A cow like that could very easily find herself on a truck headed for the butcher shop. In later years I had a few cows like that myself.
My memory is quite sketchy from those days but the milking process was pretty much the same from farm to farm. In the summertime the cows were herded into their individual stalls. They soon learned exactly where to go. As soon as each cow was in her place she was fastened in by a tie chain or a metal or wooden stantion. These stantions kept the individual cows from stealing grain or fighting with each other.
Cows seem to have a sense of humor of their own. They tend to poop both coming into the barn and leaving it. As if the dairyman does not have enough to do!
When things have settled down a little it's time to begin extracting the milk. A cow has the ability to release her milk or to hold it back. Normally they will release it with no hesitation when you sit down on the low stool with your pail. A high producing cow will sometimes begin to leak or even run a stream of milk all by herself without even being touched. It is a pleasure to milk a cow like this one. Other cows need a little more persuasion and a bit of tender loving massage to start the milk flowing. A warm wash cloth can do wonders to help the process..
The very first milk that is produced after giving birth to a calf is called colostrum. It is thicker in consistancy and yellowish color. It helps the calf to start the digestive system process. Some cows wont even allow their own calves to nurse them. And some calves are so contrary that they need a bit of personal instruction to find the milk spigots. This can be a really frustrating and time consuming job for any farmer to say the least.
Bummy74