12 



BULLETIN 423^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



factor determining the labor requirement, the installation of the 

 milking machine replaces some of the regularly employed help. The 

 value of the labor replaced yearly by the mechanical milker varies, 

 according to estimates made by the dairymen interviewed, from $2.63 

 per cow in herds of 15 cows or less to $8.33 per cow in herds of more 

 than 50 cows. There is an addition to the time available for field 

 work, varying from 1.5 hours of man labor per day on farms keeping 

 herds of 15 cows or less to 5.1 hours on farms keeping herds of over 

 50 cows, due to the use of the milking machine. To this may be 

 attributed, in part, the reduction in labor hired. As previously 

 mentioned an increase in the time available for field work makes it 

 possible to do more work with the regular force and often eliminates 

 the necessity of hiring extra help. 



Table V. — Saving due to machines in time and in irages paid to hired labor 

 as estimated by the dairymen intervieived. 



Size of herd. 



Number of 



farms with 



herds of each 



size. 



Farmers' esti- 

 mate of hours 

 of working i 

 time saved by- 

 use of the 

 mechanical 

 milker (per 

 day, per farm). 



Estimated sav- 

 ing of wages 

 paid to labor 



due to the use 



of the milking 

 machine (per 



cow, per yeax). 



15 cows or less . . 



16 to 30 cows.... 

 31 to 50 cows. . . . 

 51 cows or more 



1.5 

 2.2 

 3.0 

 5.1 



S2. 63 

 5.93 

 4.93 

 8.33 



1 Such time as is saved from milking is available for a man and team. When the laborer leaves his work 

 to milk, if he is using a team it must be stabled; hence, man and horse time is affected, depending upon the 

 nature of the work. 



Table VI. 



-Comparative annual costs of hand and machine milking on farms 

 irith herds of different sizes in the areas studied. 





Machine milking. 



Hand milking. 



Size of herd. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms 



with 

 herds 

 of each 



size. 



Inter- 

 est on 

 invest- 

 ment 

 (per 

 cow). 



Value 

 of gas 

 and oil 

 (per 

 cow). 



Cost of 



repairs 



(per 



cow). 



Depre- 

 ciation 

 (per 

 cow). 



Labor 

 cost 

 (per 



cow). 



Total 

 cost 

 (per 



cow). 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms 



with 

 herds 

 of each 



size. 



Labor 

 cost 

 (per 



cow). 





32 

 72 

 41 

 11 



$1. 26 

 .79 

 .61 

 .56 



SO. 94 

 .84 

 .84 

 .83 



$0.20 

 .20 

 .25 

 .36 



$1.98 

 1.00 

 1.49 

 1.12 



$7.39 

 7.31 

 6.03 

 4.47 



$11. 77 

 10.14 

 9.22 

 7.34 



2S 

 63 

 16 

 6 



$10. 91 



10 to 30 cows 



10.26 



31 to 50 cows 



10.11 



51 cows or more 



10.45 







Average 



156 



.82 



.86 



.22 



1.24 



6.79 



9.93 



113 



10.41 









The labor cost of milking by hand and by machine milking is 

 shown in Table VI. Wages are figured at 0.123 cents per hour. The 

 labor costs conform to the time required to milk by hand and ma- 

 chine milking as sho^n in Table IV. They remain nearly the same 

 in herds of various sizes wdien hand milked, but diminish in the 



