He followed up his observation that milkmaids who had previously caught cowpox did not later catch smallpox by showing that inoculated cowpox protected against inoculated smallpox.
In the early 20th century, the great majority of the population was still employed in agriculture; one contemporary observer mentioned common occupations as farm workers, milkmaids and washer women.
Traditionally it was played by milkmaids who used their milking stools as a wicket, according to one belief while waiting for their husbands to return from working in the fields.