DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 225 



the disastrous effects of a constant changing of milkers. The 

 constant alternation of machine milking and hand milking would 

 apparently have the same or more serious effect on the cows. 



To show the effect of alternate hand and mechanical milking 

 a very good example may be had from the results obtained with 

 cows in the Nebraska University dairy herd, which was sub- 

 jected to this treatment for a period of six consecutive weeks. 



In this .experiment the two methods of milking were so radi- 

 cally different in operation that when the milker was substituted 

 for hand labor the cows did not milk out completely. The 

 amount of strippings increased as the experiment progressed, 

 plainly indicating that the method was detrimental. The total 

 amount of milk was practically the same in each case, but 

 the percentage of butter fat was materially lowered. It would 

 be extremely interesting to know what became of this fat, but 

 we have no means of determining this. 



The condition of some of the cows in this experiment was so 

 unsatisfactory after two weekly substitutions of machine milk- 

 ing that the attempt was considered a total failure. Not only 

 was the amount of strippings increased, but the udders became 

 congested and the milk was drawn with difficulty even by hand. 

 This is perhaps an extreme case, but the result is no worse than 

 we would expect if constant changing from one method to the 

 other was practiced. Milking in the morning by hand, for in- 

 stance, and with machinery in the evening, a practice that might 

 appear advantageous where labor is concerned, would not be 

 at all satisfactory when the effect on production is taken into 

 account. 



The significant point brought out by this experiment is that 

 when machine milking and hand milking are carried on irregu- 

 larly and interchangeably, the machine will not draw all of the 

 milk and in consequence more strippings are obtained. It is 

 very evident that iwe cannot make a comparison between two 

 methods of milking by alternating these methods. 



The most important question as to the practicability of ma* 

 chine milking is whether or not cows can be milked satisfacto- 

 rily by this method for an extended period of time. The re- 

 sults obtained in different investigations furnish a vast amount 

 of material that has a bearing on this point and should enable 

 one to form a correct judgment on this question. The Univer- 



15 



