It may distress the picturesque school to compare the electrical
milking of a herd of cows with the old picture of man or maid, squatted on a three-legged stool with head thrust against the flank of the cow, rhythmically and with soft and moistened fingers filling the foaming bowl held conveniently between the knees. Yes ; but it seems to me after watching both pictures that the cows even prefer the robot. Their serene eyes (with which Homer compared even his favourite goddess's) are as contented as ever and the rows of 1,000-gallon cows stand at least as still as any 300-gallon cow in the muddy byre of a smallholder whether in Greece or the English shires. Some say that the cows lasted longer under the old natural and native manner, but I should doubt it. Their obvious enjoyment of the electrical milker is proof enough of its gentleness, at any rate under the expert who sees to it that the " stripping " is done by hand. We never quite destroy the old. The scythe and sickle hold their ancient places ; and the sheep lamb among the strawed hurdles and the shepherd rests under the stars and marks their signals.
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