?42 ANNUAL REPORT OE THE Off. Doc. 



tached to the same machine with the same degree of vacuum pro- 

 duced by the same power, you practically have the same milker and 

 a good milker at every milking every day. If this is not conducive 

 to good results I do not know what is. Now while I am speaking of 

 the milking machine, I want to say that I believe it is one of the ad- 

 vance steps in dairying. I have watched its workings very closely for 

 a month and the results obtained indicate that it is entirely practical. 

 That it is a labor saving device there is no question. For example: 

 Two men with the machine will milk a herd of 60 cows in less time 

 than it requires four men by hand. This makes it possible for the 

 other two men to go into the fields with the teams early in the morn- 

 ing and work until evening, as it is not necessary for the drivers to 

 take part in the milking. This is no small item, as on many farms it 

 would amount to $10 per week in cash and for 30 weeks a net saving 

 of $300. 



The scarcity of milkers and the unreliability of many of them has 

 had a tendency to keep many men from going into dairy farming. 

 Some of dairymen who have been in the business have been obliged 

 to give it up for this reason. Great interest therefore centers 

 around the milking machine, especially where scarcity of labor ex- 

 ists. It not only requires about one-half the labor to milk the 

 cows, but it is believed that the labor employed will be of a higher 

 class than heretofore, and will command higher wages. It is be- 

 lieved, further, that the advent of the milking machines will have 

 a tendency among farmers who now have small dairies to enlarge 

 their plants and to make dairying their chief business. The trouble 

 has been in the past that too many farmers have made dairying 

 secondary to other work, and when anything had to be neglected it 

 was always the dairy,and for this reason the profits from their 

 dairies have been small. Where the milking machines have been 

 introduced they have infiuenced dairymen to clean up their farms and 

 to take more pride in their work. This naturally will result in the 

 production of cleaner milk and in some cases better prices. Any 

 practical apparatus which has a tendency to improve dairy condi- 

 tions should be welcomed by the industry. 



If the milking machine is not kept sanitary it will be a step back- 

 ward rather than forward in the production of milk. Actual tests 

 have shown that where the machines were cleaned by simply rins- 

 ing in warm water the bacteria in the milk drawn by them runs up 

 into the millions per c. c. On the other hand, where boiling water 

 or the sterilizer is used in connection with germicides the bacteria 

 in the milk may be practically reduced to the infection which comes 

 from the cow teats. In some cases the test has been as low as 400 

 bacteria to the c. c. It will be seen, therefore, that the machine 

 offers great possibilities to the producer of high-class milk. Suc- 

 cess here depends upon the man behind the milking machine. 



The milking machine will work out in practice very much the 

 same as the farm separator. When separators were distributed 

 by the thousands through the West, the farmer, at the start at least, 

 didn't keep them clean and the result was a lower grade of butter 

 at the creamery. Rut when the farm separator is kept clean the 

 cream coming from it is fully as good if not better than when sep- 

 erated at the factory. Success depends upon the man here again. 



I believe the time has come when we should pay less attention to 



