Dad's Ten Gallon Milk Can

I was pretty young when I learned about milk cans.  My dad tells about milking the cows in the winter time.  Much of the coral was made with cedar post and barbed wire.  He would tie the cow to one of these post and using a milking stool would milk the cows by hand.  The cold winds blow and his only protection was the barbed wire fence.

When I was young he made a milking barn and had milking machines.  The barn would hold six cows.  He would clean the utter, attach the four cups, one on each teat, and then prepare the next cow.  Rolled barley was fed to the cows while there were being milked.  The cows were eager to come into the barn for the barley.   A strainer which was shaped like a large funnel would be fitted with a filter which would remove any solids that would end up in the milking machine.  In the summer time the can holding the evening milk would be put in a tub of water.  A piece of burlap would be wrapped around the can.  The water would soak up the burlap and help to cool the milk.  Dad had four ten gallon milk cans.  Each morning some one would come by and pick up the two cans of mild and take it to the creamery that was in Delta.  By the time driver got back the next morning.  Other two cans would be filled and waiting on the platform at the side of the road.  The drive would take the two full cans and leave the two cans from the day before.

Dad would wake me up in the mornings to help with the milking.  He would carry a bucket of hot water to rinse the milking machines and use the hot water, warm by now, to clean the cows udder and teats.  He wore overalls and had a pair of pliers in the pocket on his outside thigh.  The bucket would hit the pliers and make a noise.  I would hear the noise and jump out of bed before he made it back to the house.

He used artificial insemination to breed the cows. He would call a technician whenever a cow would come in to heat.  That was not very successful he sold his cows.  Soon after that the chemicals used in killing aphids and weevils in the alfalfa was found in the milk.  That pretty much caused the milking business in the county to come to and end.

The milk can below my dad's name pressed into the can.  Lester Johnson.  Somebody gave that to me several years ago.  It has been stored under the house for years.  I brought it out a couple of days ago.  There is a number written with red paint which is my dad's  account number used at the creamery.

There was a dairyman south of Delta who was selling his herd.  My dad wanted to expand the business.  He bought the herd.  I don't remember how many cows he bought.

Comments are welcomed