that stripping is good for agitating the
udder, the agitation of which is conducive to the withdrawal of a large
quantity of milk; but there is nothing to prevent the agitation of the
udder as much as the dairymaid pleases, while holding in the other mode.
Indeed, a more constant vibration could be kept up in that way by the
vibrations of the arms than by stripping. Stripping, by using an
unconstrained pressure on two sides of the teat, is much more apt to
press it unequally, than by grasping the whole teat in the palm of the
hand; while the friction occasioned by passing the finger and thumb
firmly over the outside of the teat, is more likely to cause heat and
irritation in it than a steady and full grasp of the entire hand. To
show that this friction causes an unpleasant feeling even to the
dairymaid, she is obliged to lubricate the teat frequently with milk,
and to wet it at first with water; whereas the other mode requires no
such expedients. And as a further proof that stripping is a mode of
milking which may give pain to the cow, it cannot be employed, when the
teats are chapped, with so much ease to the cow as handling.

The first requisite in the person that milks is, of course, the utmost
_cleanliness_. Without this, the milk is unendurable. The udder should,
therefore, be carefully cleaned before the milking commences.

Milking should be done _fast_, to draw away the milk as quickly as
possible, and it should be continued as long as there is a drop of milk
to bring away. This is an issue which cannot be attended to in too
particular a manner. If any milk is left, it is re-absorbed into the
system, or else becomes caked, and diminishes the tendency to secrete a
full quantity afterward. Milking as dry as possible is especially
necessary with young cows with their first calf; as the mode of milking
and the length of time to which they can be made to hold out, will have
very much to do with their milking qualities as long as they live. Old
milk left in the receptacle of the teat soon changes into a curdy state,
and the caseous matter not being at once removed by the next milking, is
apt to irritate the lining membrane of the teat during the operation,
especially when the teat is forcibly rubbed down between the finger and
thumb in stripping. The consequence of this repeated irritation is the
thickening of the lining membrane, which at length becomes so hardened
as to close up the orifice at the end of the teat. T