paratively new and is restricted to a 

 few farms. No attempt is made here 

 to analyze the problem and make rec- 

 ommendations, except to suggest that 

 the decision to buy should be made on 

 the basis of the individual situation. 

 A young man with limited capital may 

 well come to the conclusion that he 

 can allocate his available capital to 

 other more pressing needs to greater 

 advantage. 



On the farm mentioned above the 

 gutter cleaner (Fig. 37), costing 

 about $1900 installed, saved approxi- 

 mately 40 man minutes a day or 

 about 133 hours a year. The farm, 

 carrying 50 cows and 25 head of 

 young stock, is operated by an elder- 

 ly man and his son. The father can 

 no longer do the hard physical work 

 of shovelling manure out of the gut- 

 ter, but he can handle the spreader 

 and he can press the switch. The 

 availability of the barn cleaner en- 



ables him to function as a full time 

 worker. The father and son can, if 

 necessary, do all the chores associated 

 with a herd of 50 cows. In this case, 

 the large investment did not seriously 

 curtail other needs and was a sound 

 and economic decision. It gives more 

 flexibility between father and son in 

 doing the chore work and can be paid 

 for from current income. 



On some farms the mechanical 

 cleaner may be practical. On others 

 the operator can well continue with 

 his truck carrier combination. He can 

 motorize the carrier lift mechanism 

 and save some handwork. Neverthe- 

 less, the trend, as dairy farms become 

 larger, will probably be toward me- 

 chanical barn cleaners, partly because 

 men prefer pressing a button to stand- 

 ing in a gutter shovelling manure. 

 It is easier to get and hold good help. 

 Hired men like to press buttons, too. 

 In case of labor shortage or emer- 



'5 



Fig. 37. This older operator has substituted the electric switch for the manure 

 shovel. This enables him to continue as a full time worker. Al- 

 though he could no longer do the hard physical work usually asso- 

 ciated with this task, he can drive the team or tractor and he loves 

 to turn the switch. 



42 



