MILKING MACHINE COST.

Northern Advocate, 4 June 1920, Page 1

MILKING MACHINE COST.

ELECTRICITY AND B.SN'ZINfi

FIGURES STUDIED

A very interesting discussion took place at the meeting of the Te Awamutu Power Board relative to the cost of running milking machines. The basis of review was, of course, the present-used benzine power One speaker started off by remarking that he had heard one dairy farmer claim to be able to milk eighty oows right throughout the season on a consumption of one tin of benzine every nine days.

This was regarded by the farmer members of the Board as a phenomenal average, such as would not be recorded on any other farm in the district.

Another present had made particular inquiries as to the cost of benzine power. H e had gone to four farmers of repute, some of whose books he had access to. No. 1, without a separator, milked 40 cows at a maximum cost of £20 for benzine for the season at eight months; No. 2, also without a separator, milked 40 cows for £22 10s for benzine for the season; No. 3 with a separator, milked 45 cows for £22 10s; and No. 4 used 18 cases of benzine for

60 cows,

Another farmer had striven to find a reliable standard of cost, but, with so many different opinions amongst farmers, and so many classes of engines, a standard cost was a matter only of conjecture. One cas c for which he could speak with certainty was £45 for the season for a herd of 65 cows That included all costs of power—oil repairs, benzine and cleaning.

Members agreed that £7 per annum was a fair rate of depreciation to allow on oil engines

"That being the case,'' explained the chairman, "it is not good policy to count only benzine cost in fixing the. power charges with the existing engines on the farm." The farmer did not get his oil, his repairs, etc.

for nothing.

Just what the power cost in delay, uncertainty, and a risk of breakdown was best known to th c farmer; but it was certainly wrong to count only the benzine charges as the total cost [of power. j In.comparison, he went on to cxi plain that there were practically no wearing parts in electric motors, and hence the depreciation was a matter only of shillings each year. If the j motor was kept oiled—H needed no other attention—it would last for years. Believing that time was valuable to the farmer, particularly in the milking hours, he suggested also the cost of starting the engin c during the season, of cleaning it, and every-day repairs should be brought into the reckoning. All these things were dispensed with when motors were installed. "A couple of minutes with the oil can at intervals," he concluded "and the whole machinery is in motion by the touch of a button. Another speaker declared that some farmers would count also on throwing out engines now in commission. DISCARDED ENGINES To this, it was replied that in Canterbury it had worked out that most of the engines so discarded had arrived at a stage when, in the ordinary way of depreciation, they had to be "scrapped." For those that were saleable there was a market.. Also, when the farmer installed an engine ,h e had to count on the expediture of something like £100; the cost of the motor installed was more in the region of £50, depending on the distance of the milking shed from the road..

It was further suggsted that the convenience and the reliability pf electricity had to b e remembered, With it there was no need to worry about benzine or coal shortages. Th e Board had only to strive to put the system on a reasonable commercial basis and if any charges yielded a profit the money still belonged to the people of the district, and the rates could b e reduced in the future. That was a marked contrast to the present custom of being in the grip of American oil companies which took all the profits out of the country. The Board had only to strive to cover the bare recurring cost, and

in so doing could economise in farm costs, and so help to increase th c productivity and convenience of the farms.

One speaker suggested that the Board should merely express its policy as to whether reserve funds should b e established or the system allowed one, two, ir three years to become self-supporting. He moved, "That, for the guidance of the engineers in framing a schedule of charges, this meeting express to the engineers the opinion that three years be allowed to make the scheme self-sup-porting.''

The motion after a good deal of discussion, was approved.

The chairman considered that ther e would be no question of the desire of farmers for electricity. The experience of Canterbury would be repeated in their district. In the In the South it had been found that the demand for power in every instance exceeded the supply. That gave a practical reply to those who wer e in doubt as to the relative cost of electricity and benzine or coal power. Uf the old methods were the cheaper, why was it that the electric stations were so heavily called upon?

A member of the Board, who had been interested in the Tai Tapu and other Canterbury country reticulation schemes .cited a few instances to prove how quickly the oil engines went out of commission when once electricity came into a district. They had found in Canterbury all manner of new uses for the power, and it had revolutionised farm. life. People down there —he concluded—would be greatly amused to hear the suggestion that oil engines were the cheapest form of power on the farm. In a year or two from now people in th e district would have had the experince of Canterbury, and they would then realise how foolish it was to question the comparative costs—foolish because it was impossible without the experience *o realise the comparative facilities, uses and convenience of electricity on the

farms.