Rate of Milk Secretion with Increasing Interval between Milking

Abstract

THE belief that the rate of milk secretion declines with time during the interval between successive milkings is based on an observed increase from thrice daily and a decrease from once daily milking over normal twice daily milkings, and on Edwards's¹ calculations of secretion-rates in milking intervals of different length. Turner² recently questioned Edwards's conclusions on the grounds of the regression of residual on total milk yield and suggested that the secretion-rate does not decrease until after twenty hours. On the other hand, Bailey, Clough and Dodd³ claim to have re-established that milk secretion rate does decrease with time.