Contrary to a general impression one cannot feed fat into the milk. A large amount of oil cake or other food rich in fat in the daily ration does not increase the percentage of butter-fat in the milk. Rather, it depends largely upon the breed and to some extent upon the period of lactation. Provided the food agrees with her digestion and keeps the cow in a good, healthy condition, the composition of the milk is not changed to any appreciable extent by a change in make-up of the food. It goes without saying that to produce from 20 to 50 lbs. of milk a day the cow must have an abundance of _fresh, pure water_ to drink and she should not have access to stagnant water. =The Barn= must be clean, light and well ventilated and the cows should be milked with clean hands into a clean pail which is covered as far as possible so as to prevent dust from falling into the milk, or with one of the excellent milking machines which are now frequently used in large dairies. The milk is strained and cooled immediately after milking. [Illustration: Milking machine ] [Illustration: 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 not occur until the time when the pastures dry up. The cow will then go dry in the early Fall, when feed is scarce. Usually, however, the cows are allowed to “come in” in the Spring and the yield of milk begins to shrink in the late Summer with little or nothing in the Winter. [Illustration: Milking on a Danish farm ]