THE JERSEY COW

     I am not sure how old I was when we had a milk cow or my age when we sold her.  I know I must have been around 3 or 4 years old.  We had a Jersey cow which looked very much like the one in the picture.  I do not remember if the cow had a name.  I have a very vague memory of my dad milking the cow.  Sometimes he would take the milk in the pail and pour it into the pigs trough.  I suppose the cow had eaten some weed that made the milk taste bitter or bad, so was not fit for  human consumption The pigs loved the milk the best I remember.  What will a pig not eat?

     Then my dad became unable to milk the cow because of his joint stiffening condition.  My mom took over the job. I would go with her to the barn, and we would go to the pasture to get the cow.  I cannot remember exactly where that pasture was, but I do remember vividly the gate to the barnyard area. We would bring the cow through the gate, and then my mom would take the cow into the lean to on the barn and milk her.  I don't have a recollection of her separating the cream from the milk, but I do remember the cream being put into a butter churn.  Ours looked somewhat like one of these.  We would put the cream into the churn, and then I would get to turn the handle.  We would crank the handle until the cream hardened into butter.  I am sure I had to let my mom take over at the end when the handle became too difficult for me to crank.  After churning the butter, I do not remember what was done next.  I would suppose my mom would take it out of the churn, wash it, and salt it, and put it in to some sort of container.  I cannot even tell you what it tasted like.  I wish I could remember the taste of fresh butter and fresh cow's milk.

   I do know that when I was 4 or 5, we sold the cow.  It was too much work for my mom and too expensive to feed the cow.  My mom bought our milk from the grocery store.  I know that we did not like store bought milk. It did not taste like fresh cow's milk.  It probably didn't take too long to adjust, but that change was not a welcome one at first.