Modem Milking
Could I milk ? I was asked by a friend. I had to say that once the accomplishment had been mine, but for many years I had not tried my hand, and I doubted whether I was now much use as a milker. It seemed that my friend had had a desperate search for milkers during the week. His machine, or the driving power, had failed and he had been confronted with the problem of manual milking. It doesn't sound much of a problem, but there are fewer people who can milk than there used to be and, as anyone who has ever tried can vouch, the time to practise is not when the milk must be taken from the cow. A novice hand draws far less from a cow than the hand of an expert. The lamps had burned late in the 'shippon the night the machine failed, I gathered, and my friend had discovered that he was inclined to find a milking stool rather hard and his hands un- familiar with the job. Luckily the defect in the plant had been repaired without undue delay, but I imagine that to be without the machine after a number of years is as depres- sing to contemplate as a shortage of tractor fuel and a return to the horse plough with untried horses and men who have forgotten the old way.
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