76 AGRICULTURE 



The cost In some districts the labour question is 



and supply 



of labour much more acute than in others. On a dairy 

 farm this consideration is especially important, 

 as efficient milkers are an absolute necessity. 

 Because of the scarcity in this respect, many 

 farmers have been obliged either to consider- 

 ably reduce their dairy herds, or, in some 

 cases, to give up cows and keep sheep instead. 

 It seems certain that sooner or later we shall 

 have to have recourse to milking by machinery 

 almost entirely. Many milking machines 

 have been put on the market. At present the 

 best of these is the "Lawrence Kennedy " 

 milker, brought out by the Dairy Outfit 

 Company. 



Milking At a farm near Datchet a herd of forty- 

 eight cows is regularly milked by this means. 

 The milker is actuated by suction, which 

 may be obtained by an ordinary vacuum 

 pump, worked by steam or oil or gas engine, 

 or an electric motor. Connected with the 

 vacuum producer is a vacuum-containing tank, 

 and a range of pipes runs along the sheds, 



