II) 



New Hampshire Experiment Station 



[Bulletin 228 



required to illuminate the working space about the machine which measures 

 20x40 feet. The current consumed by these lamps for the entire period of op- 

 eration was 52.5 kwh. 



Graders of this type cost in the neighborhood of $800. 



The cost of operation per bushel was .014 kwh. and the cost for lighting .03 

 kwh. per bushel. 



DAIRY EQUIPMENT 



Milking Machines. Milking machines are considered as thoroughly practical 

 and standard equipment in the New England section. Many dairy farmers 

 have been operating them for quite a few years with gas engine power if not 

 with electric. The most important point is to keep the equipment clean and 

 sterile. With this well taken care of. very little difficulty arises from their use. 

 Three hours per week should be sufficient for this. 



Each of the four dairy farms is equipped with stationary installed milkers, 

 three of which are double units (3 units per farm) and the other machine 

 operates three single units. 



Various attempts have been made to determine the number of cows necessary 

 to justify the use of this machine. This, however, does not work out con- 

 sistently because of the human factor. Milkers have been installed for as few 

 as ten cows, and with the new small size, portable type of machines now avail- 

 able this may be more generally practical. 



There is no standard power requirement for milking machines. Each make 

 varies from another. Unless definite information is at hand, milkers should be 

 over-powered to be on the safe side. Two horse-power is the average required 

 on the four farms. 



In the case of Farm No. 3 a 2 h. p. motor operates, through belts, pulleys 

 and a line shaft, the milking machine, milk cooling pump and cream separator. 

 It will be noticed that the power consumption on this place exceeds that, of 

 farms milking many more cows, which is a clear-cut example of the loss of 

 power in a line shaft. The operating cost is thus increased 60 to 70 percent. 



TABLE 18. Milking Machine Records on Experimental Farms 



Separators. New England is a whole milk producing section, and the use 

 of current for separators has dwindled to practically nothing. The four dairy 

 farms are equipped with them, but the records show that the current consump- 

 tion for months at a time stands at zero. They are used only very occasionally. 



Milk Cooling with Water. Several methods are advocated for removing the 

 animal heat from milk immediately after milking, i.e. reducing the heat from 

 body temperature to about 50° F. Up to the present time but one of these 

 methods has been experimented with, namely that of circulating cold well-water 

 through specially designed cooling cones over which the milk flows in a thin 

 sheet, This is a well known and established practice among dairymen, and 

 undoubtedly economical, if plenty of cold water is available. The % h. p. 

 motor which operates the circulating pump consvimes 10 kwh. as a maximum in 

 July and August and reaches a minimum in February of 4 kwh. The average 

 for the year is 7.8 kwh. Three hundred quarts of milk are cooled daily. 



Bottle Washing Brush. A 1-6 h. p. motor is used to operate a bottle brush 

 which washes 300 bottles a day. Many farmers who operate steam turbine 

 brushes which require 25 to 50 pounds steam pressure find that the cost of 



