As every farmer knows, some years are better than others, and additional income is welcomed in challenging times. Farm women often sold eggs, milk, cream, fruit, produce and handmade items to supplement their income.
They milked cows, so I saw firsthand where milk came from and the manual labour involved.
FIRST, COWS
Dad chose his best cows for the job, ones that were calm and well-endowed - good milkers. He took pride in the health of his herd, and their milk was rich and plentiful.
On our farm, three to five cows produced enough milk for the family's needs and cream to sell while leaving enough for the cows to feed their calves.
Cows are intelligent and have a good memory. They became uncomfortably full and annoyed when they weren't milked on time. They looked at the milker accusingly when they finally showed up to milk.
MILKING TIME
In the early 1900s, before pastures were fenced, settlers milked outside. Striking out with a pail to find their cows was often challenging.
Mom and Dad hand-milked from 1947 until the late 1970s. My older siblings helped as well.
When I was growing up, the milk cows were pastured near the farmyard and were brought into the barn to be milked.
The cows knew which stall was theirs and went in without much persuasion. They were focused on the chop in the feed box and the hay in the manger.
The back leg closest to the milker was secured with a rope, and a piece of cotton twine was used to tie up the tail. Getting kicked with a rogue hoof or whipped in the face with a tail was a fate to be avoided. Some cows were passive, making this step unnecessary.
Once the cow was settled, a low handmade wooden stool was used to sit beside the cow. Afterward, the stool was hung from a hook near the roof in the barn's alleyway.
One of the milking stools from the farm.
Extracting milk from a cow by hand looked easy when my parents or older siblings did it. A certain degree of strength in your arms and hands is required as it takes hundreds of squirts to fill one milk pail. It was monotonous work, but a skilled milker developed a rhythm to their technique; their head resting against the cow, lost in thought, it was a good time to think.
Milking time had its memorable moments. There were occasions when the cow, the milker, the kids, or the cats knocked over a pail of milk. No one wanted to be in the vicinity when that happened!
Dad liked to squirt us kids when we weren't expecting it or shoot a stream of milk into the mouth of a waiting barn cat. It was tricky to get it in their mouths, and afterwards their faces dripped with milk. They spent the next ten minutes grooming themselves; what else did those cats have to do anyway?
This is a fond memory for me because I liked being in the barn and spending time with my parents and siblings. I didn't have the strength to do it fast enough, so I made a poor milkmaid. I liked the cows well enough, but I didn't particularly want to get that up close and personal with them anyway. Luckily, I had a brother just ahead of me in age, so he got the job. My chores involved helping in the kitchen and dishes.
THE CREAM SEPARATOR
The use of cream in recipes goes back centuries; it was a discovery made purely by accident when milk sat and separated, and the cream settled on top.
When the milking was done, the pails were carried to the house and the milk was put through the separator machine.
Originally, separators were manually operated by turning a handle to rotate a gear mechanism, which caused the bowl to spin. I remember the electric separator that sat on a stand in the kitchen.
As it turned, the heavier milk was pulled out against the sides of the bowl, and the cream, which was lighter, pooled in the middle. The cream and milk then flowed out of separate spouts into collection containers.
With no running water in the house, washing and sanitizing the separator parts was a task. Once it was reassembled, Mom placed a fresh tea towel over the bowl to ensure that no dust or flies got in. When she did this, it signalled that the day’s work was finally done.
The higher the butterfat percentage was in the milk, the heavier (thicker) the cream was. In the fridge, it got so thick that a spoon stood up by itself in it.
For years, the cream was stored in our icehouse, where blocks of ice packed in sawdust kept it cold. In 1961, power was installed in the farmhouse, and cream was then stored in a second fridge in the porch until shipping day.
Mom made butter using a glass butter churn. Cottage cheese was made by heating milk, adding vinegar and salt and allowing it to cool. It curdled, then it was hung in cheesecloth from a cupboard handle over a bowl to drain. I don't recall her making ice cream, but that would have been epic.
THE CREAM CAN
Metal with handles on the sides, cream cans were used to ship cream to sell to a creamery. The lid that fit on the neck of the can had a bar-shaped handle across it. These cans came in 5 to 10-gallon options, and milk cans were larger.
I was intrigued by these cans. As kids we weren’t allowed to mess with them so that probably had something to do with the legendary, mythical status the cream cans had.
Producers marked the sides of their cans with their first initial and last name. At the station, a manilla tag with other information, such as date and destination, was attached to the lid with a thin wire.
Each farmer had several cans, so they could drop off full ones and pick up their empty ones and cheques in one trip to town. In the 1960s, Mom received five dollars for a gallon of heavy cream.
THE TRAIN STATION
The train station was the hub of the community. The railway was an integral part of the agricultural industry, allowing producers to move their products to market. Incoming cargo was unloaded, and outgoing dairy and produce were loaded. The train also provided passenger service.
It was Dad's responsibility to get the precious cargo of cream to the train station on time.
The train station in Leask closed in 1979 and was later torn down.
CREAMERIES
For years, creameries dotted rail lines across the country. At the time, they were the largest industry in many places.
The original creameries are long closed; most were demolished.
Shellbrook Creamery
TIMES CHANGE
Mom was proud of the money she made selling cream. It was used for groceries and her spending money.
The introduction of processed whipped toppings, which were more convenient and had a longer shelf life, led to a drop in the demand for fresh cream by the 1970s.
In 1977, my parents decided to hang up the milking stools for the last time. Soon, they would only have one child living at home, and with fewer mouths to feed, they didn't have to work as hard anymore.
Mom advertised her remaining three milk cows in the local newspaper and sold them for $1000.00 each. It was a bittersweet day when those cows left, as they had been a big part of the farm.
REAL CREAM RUINED ME
I took the ready supply of farm cream for granted. “Pass the cream” was often heard at the table. Think cream puffs, fresh raspberries and strawberries, warm Christmas pudding and hot coffee, all made or served with fresh cream. "Real cream” ruined me for any alternative products. I never developed a taste for the processed "edible" options.
There are, of course, modern dairy operations that meet the demand in Canada today. Some people continue to milk a few cows by hand to meet their needs.
The milk pails and stools, separators, and cream cans live on as they became collector's items. People paint pictures on them and decorate their homes and yards with these treasured items.
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