152 PRODUCTION 



time improved the quality of the product. 1 However, it is doubtful 

 whether the same proportion of the total output of milk in the 

 leading dairying countries will continue to be devoted to butter- 

 making in the future, for reasons that are given in dealing with 

 consumption below. 2 



The milking machine is likely to be improved in the near future, 

 beyond the experimental stage. Evidence from various countries 

 shows that this machine is already of practical utility since it has 

 been worked with satisfactory results for periods long enough to 

 form effective tests. 3 The probability is that before many years 

 are past it will become part of the ordinary equipment of dairy 

 farms, wherever hand labour is scarce or costly. Its effects upon 

 the dairying industry will almost certainly be of a revolutionary 

 nature, especially in new countries where the cost of milking alone 

 often amounts to over one-third of the value of the milk produced. 

 In the event of the milking machine being introduced in the near 

 future, the result would be to give dairying special encouragement 

 as compared with other branches of animal industries. It is 

 probable that margarine will be used increasingly as a substitute 

 for butter and animal fats in the future, but even margarine re- 

 quires a certain amount of milk (upwards of 30% by weight of the 

 raw materials) for its manufacture ; and cheese, whole milk and 

 the condensed and dessicated forms of milk are likely to become 

 more important articles of food among town populations if there 

 is any shortage in the supplies of meat. Dairying in any case is an 

 industry well suited to the more intensive type of farming, which 

 seems destined to develop considerably in the more advanced 

 agricultural countries. 4 



On the whole, while the. use of machinery has greatly reduced the 

 labour costs in the production of cereals and other crops, thereby 



1 The general increase in dairying, as compared with other forms of animal 

 industries in a number of countries in recent years, while due largely, no doubt, 

 to the increased demand for dairy products, has been facilitated by develop- 

 ments on the side of production, such as the application of machinery to the 

 production of butter and cheese, the rapid spread of co-operation, the 

 standardisation of products, and the marked improvements in the milk-yield 

 of cows. 



2 See Part II., Chap, ii., pp. 212-214. 



3 For descriptions of milking machine tests and their results, see the follow- 

 ing publications : 



U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 92 (1907). 



Wisconsin Univ. Agric. Station, Bulletin 173 (1909). 



U.S. Dept. Agric., Bulletin 423 (1916). 



U.S. Dept. Agric. Stale Expt.. Station Bulletins, Kent, No. 186 ; Geneva, 

 No. 317. 



Deutsche Landw. Gesellschaft, Arbeiten, Heft 254 (1914). 



Annales de la Science Agronotnique, 1914, pp. 84-97. 



For the progress made in the adoption of milking machines in Australia 

 and New Zealand see the Handbook for Australia, 1914, p. 398, (British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science) and the Dominions Commission's 

 Minutes of Evidence taken in New Zealand, Q. 2686. 



4 For a discussion of this point see H. Levy, Large and Small Holding* 

 Chap. ix. 



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