MEN OR MACHINES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21304, 25 March 1939, Page 15

MEN OR MACHINES

HAND-MILKING THE BEST NO LOSS OF PRODUCTION Cows milked by machines tend to fall off somewhat in yield when compared with those milked by hand. Tests made at the Rational Institute for Dairying Research, Reading, have shown that up to five weeks after calving 84 cows of all ages, milked by machines gave about he same yield as 84 which were hand milked, the quantity being 259.31 b. However, ten weeks after calving the hand-milked cows were giving 61b more than the other group. The gap between the yields continued to widen until at 30 weeks after calving the hand-milked group was averaging 25.51 b more than those milked mechanically. In 34 pairs of heifers the machinemilked group yielded about 51b per week giving a week after calvingf but the’results at 30 weeks were similar to those from the cows. The tests were carried out by milkers familiar with the proper use of the machines engaged in the trials. In regard to the use of machines in cow houses, a quite important- factor helping towards speedy and complete milking is the reasonably frequent renewal of teat cup liners. Tests showed that a liner, after 134 days’ use, gave a milking speed of 0.751 b in 20 seconds while the speed from a new liner was 0.891 b in the same time. These figures do not alone sound very important, but when extended over a whole milking they show considerable waste of time, both in lactation and in the later stripping, from using liners that have really outlived their period of efficiency.