THE MILKING MACHINE.

Golden Bay Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1, 2 June 1910, Page 2

THE MILKING MACHINE.

There seems to be a whole world of varied experience with the milking machine, and one hardly knows what to think about it. The writer some years ago milked 80 to 100 cows for 18 months with one, and with the most disastrous results, but the im--provements carried out since seem to have made it a success now. During the last week or so he has been meeting with several gentlemen who ran the machine with large herds, and are well satisfied- with the results, and has been to see one at work where it has been installed for two years, and is still giving satisfaction, while we are constantl* hearing of the success of the thing elsewhere. On the other hand, there is the disquieting fact that one i'a also meeting with men who have started using the machine with high hopes, and after seeing their cows' spoiled have put it on the shelf and gone back to hand milking. People do not brag about their failures, and therefore there are likely to b« many we hear nothing about. It i'a no argument to say that it is tha fault of the people and not of the machine, for no one invests from £IOO to £2OO in a machine without trying bis level best to make it go ; and the writer knows of cases where

the trial was kept up for thre® years before abandonment. There ia the question again if there is really;; any saving of labour. It requires a man to every 12 to 15 cows to feed, clean, “muck out,” and do all other necessary work, and the sam®, man will be able to milk those 12 to 15 cows, so that in such a case there would be no saving of labour by introducing a machine. Then, again. the expenses of a machine for coal, oil, repairs, etc., are considerable, in addition to the original cost, and the daily cleaning required involves a very great deal of lat.our. Many cowsheds, again, ari very awkwardly situated for the fixing of the machine. A pipe can, of course, be carried anywhere, and to any distance within reason, but some byres suit the installation of the apparatus better than others. So far as the writer can see we have a good way to go yet before we read* satisfaction either in the milking itself or in the saving of labour. If hand milkers can be got, then it would be foolish for anyone to go to the expense of fitting up a raa- s chine, but where the hand milkers are scarce, or unsatisfactory, then a dairyman may think the matter over and go to see one at work to help him to come to a conclusion.