CREAM SEPARATION 79 



57. Size. Ordinarily, for farm use, a separator should 

 be of such a size or such capacity that it will separate 

 the milk produced by a herd at one milking in one-half 

 hour or less. Usually a farmer's time is worth sufficient 

 to make it cheaper for him to buy a large enough sepa- 

 rator than to use more time in operating a smaller and 

 cheaper machine. Other farm conditions must be con- 

 sidered in the choice of a separator of proper size. It 

 may be the plan of the farmer to increase or decrease 

 the size of his dairy herd, and, since a separator will 

 wear for many years, these expectations must be borne 

 in mind. In buying a separator for creamery use, both 

 the maximum and the minimum quantities of milk for 

 different seasons of the year should be considered. 



58. Supplies for repairing purposes. The obtaining 

 of supplies without difficulty is one of the most im- 

 portant considerations in buying a separator, and this 

 point should be especially emphasized in localities where 

 transportation facilities are limited. Most of the manu- 

 facturers have supply centers in many sections, so that 

 in case of a breakdown new parts can be obtained 

 quickly. Some dealers in separators carry a stock of 

 supplies. 



59. Other factors. The other factors to be considered 

 need little discussion. They are : preference for certain 

 makes ; price ; amount of power required for operation ; 

 accessibility to parts, and number of parts to be cleaned ; 

 simplicity of entire construction ; indication of durabil- 

 ity; efficiency, as shown in the amount of milk-fat left 

 in the skimmed-milk and in the ability of the machine to 

 separate the guaranteed number of pounds of whole milk 

 an hour. 



