Notice To The Help...This is the Home of Mothers.

("A Mother's Love" by Bonnie Mohr. For more information go to www.bonniemohr.com)

When I visited the National Dairy Shrine, in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin (http://www.dairyshrine.org/ ) a few years ago, as part of the International Forum for Women in Dairying, I happened upon a small poster. It was a reproduction of a sign to hang in a dairy barn, with a quote written years ago, by W.D. Hoard, the Founder of Hoard's Dairyman (http://www.hoards.com/). Today I keep it as a reminder of the basic animal husbandry principles that still hold true today.

Hoard's Dairyman was founded in 1885. My Great-Uncle, Harry Ensor, depended on it as a reliable source of information from the mid-1940's until he passed away in the late 1990's. The larger-than-average magazine with it's bright red and white covers still remind me of him.

Although Mother's Day has passed, I hope you will enjoy this quote. It is a reminder of the four-legged "working mothers" who provide us with our milk and an array of other wholesome dairy products and the tender care they deserve and receive from dairy farmers.

"NOTICE TO THE HELP: THE RULE to be observed in this stable at all times, toward the cattle, young and old, is that of patience and kindness. A man's usefullness in a herd ceases at once when he loses his temper and bestows rough usage. Men must be patient. Cattle are not reasoning beings. Remember that this is the Home of Mothers. Treat each cow as a Mother should be treated. The giving of milk is a function of Motherhood; rough treatment lessens the flow. That injures me as well as the cow. Always keep these ideas in mind in dealing with my cattle." ~ W.D. Hoard