172 BETTER DAIRY FARMING 



281. Yield is maintained. — How does the use of a milking 

 machine affect the yield? Experience indicates that where cows 

 are stripped by hand after machine milking, as they always should 

 be, no decrease in yield is, in general, evident. Of course, some 

 cows do not take kindly to the machine and sometimes cows 

 shrink prematurely with machine milking. These instances are 

 not common. A larger question deals with the quality of the milk 

 — whether as clean milk can be produced by a machine. The 

 answer is, "yes, with proper care." The care is a question of 

 properly cleaning and sterilizing the machine after use. Some 

 very satisfactory methods of doing this have been worked out at 

 the New York State Experiment Station at Geneva, New York, 

 from which the exact details can be obtained. We know of cases 

 where certified milk has been produced with milking machines, 

 following the Geneva methods as to care. 



282. Machines save money. — The relative cost of machine 

 and hand milking is another very important question. Bulletin 

 241 of the Illinois Experiment Station, published in 1923, fur- 

 nishes an exact and up-to-date answer to this question. By a 

 survey of some sixty farms it was found that the average annual 

 saving in expense resulting from the use of milking machines was 

 $3.23 per cow in herds of less than 25 cows, and $5.70 in herds of 

 over 25 cows. These differences are based on a labor rate of 17.5 

 cents per hour. For higher rates, the advantage would be more in 

 favor of the machine. 



283. Milking machines not complicated. — It is generally 

 accepted that the milking machine has been perfected so that it is 

 mechanically satisfactory. It will give no more trouble than the 

 more common pieces of machinery used on the dairy farm. Users 

 are also in fair agreement that the use of the machine does not 

 harm the cow in any way, provided she is stripped by hand to 

 avoid udder troubles. 



284. Keeping individual records. — One drawback to the use 

 of the milking machine is that it prevents the keeping of individual 

 production records. Such records are desirable for proper feeding 

 and for keeping tab on whether a cow is a profitable producer. The 



