MECHANICAL MILKERS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 25 August 1917, Page 2

MECHANICAL MILKERS.

(To t?ia Editor). Sir,—As this district is to a very large extent devoted to the dairying industry the subject of mechanical milkers, their invention, and subsequent development to their present day perfection should be of interest to your contributors and yourself. So, with ytour kind permission I will endeavor to record briefly certain facts connected with this great subject which has its romantic as well as its practical aspect. Without question the dairy- farmers of (New Zealand owe the inventors of the mechanical milker a dfebt of gratitude for the way in wliirili they persisted' in their efforts through many years of disappointment until at last the perfected mechanical milker was recognised as a commercial success; and not only recognised as a commercial success, but afeo as a natural and efficient method l of obtaining milik from tflite tow without injury to the cow, and a superior method to ordinary milking by hand, being quicker and certainly

more reliable. Gratitude is about this only reward the earlier inventors obtain, but very small monetary recompense for their labor and 'brains; in fact as has happened! in connection with many inventions, the inventors were ahead of their period and had all the forces of prejudice and conservatism arrayed against them. If it had not been for this the mechanical milker would have been developed' to its present day perfection much earlier, for, as a matter of fact, many of the earlier inventions embodied ideas which later, and by other inventors, were developed and perfected successfully. New Zealand can be . coiirgratulated on the achievements of its inventors and designer, who have developed and perfected the mechanical milker, ae no other country in

the world, not even the United, States of America has advanced soi far and with such success as our own New Zealanders. In fact it is undisputed that Niew Zealand leads the world in this 'respect. This proud position has been held and maintainedl for year.s, and our thanks are nl°o due to those progressive and farsighted' dairy farmers in this country who early recognised that the mechanical milker ultimately was hound to win its position in the sun, and it to their practical assistance both with crfsh and by allowing inventors to experiment on their herds, tliait our present proud position has been won. ft should be remembered that our dairy farmers who assisted our inventors in this did so against the strong prejudice and conservatism of their own class, jes/pecially of tliei older dairymen of the dominion, who even to-day do not altogether endorse the Ertefchanica! milker—but (human nature meing what it is this perhaps is only to he expected;. To-day we

know that it would be an utter impossibility to milk the herds of the Dominion without the imjedh'anacal milker, even if sufficient labor were available. It is 1 a question also if the labor were to be had whether it coujld jbe induced to aecetpt employment as hand-milkers, even at much

higjher wages than ih'ave been paid in the past to this kind of labor; also I doubt whether the majority of dairymen -would even consider handmilkers after their experience of the clean, fasHsj and genertijllyi efficient mechanical milkers. In fact I ai* certain they would not. From my acquaintance with dairy farmers throughout, this district who have used andf are using meclianiical milkers, ninety-nine per cent of them who have had experience with both methods- would. not hesitate a moment in saying that the mechanical milker is

far and away superior from every point of view in economy, efficiency, quickness, cleanliness, better for the cows, etc., and last, but no means Seast, reliability. The mechanical milker is always in the shed and will not run away nor will it row wjith' the bos® and demand (higher wages in the flush of the season and threaten to quit if its demands are not acceded to. In the New Zealand Official Year Book for 1916 the following sentence appears: "An important factor responsible for the improved position of dairy wattle] in

New Zealand is the milking machine which is making the farmer more independent' of hired labor." This shows that the mechanical milter is now a. recognised and important factor in connection with the dairying industry.

E. ALTAIAN. A further pnrt of Mr Allmnnrl's lettor will appear in our next issue.