SANITARY METHODS IN MILK PRODUCTION I93 



Steam power. — Steam engines are employed on 

 some farms, and they will be found to work satisfac- 

 torily in supplying power to operate the milking ma- 

 chines. Where steam is used on farms for other 

 purposes it can be made to run the milkers with but 

 little extra expense. 



The milking machine described has many advan- 

 tages, one of the most important being the saving 

 of labor, as less than one-half the help is required. 

 It is necessary that the labor employed, however, be 

 of a little higher class, and better wages must be 

 paid, as the milking machine, like other farm ma- 

 chinery, requires intelligent operators to secure the 

 best results. One man can readily operate 3 or 4 

 machines and milk from 25 to 30 cows an hour. Two 

 men with 6 machines can milk 60 cows an hour. It 

 will be readily seen that even one man can milk a 

 fair sized herd, thus making it possible for the other 

 helpers to start with the teams early in the morning 

 and work them the full day without having to stop 

 to do dairy work. With the milking machine the 

 dairyman can take charge of a good sized herd with- 

 out assistance, if he so desires, and is then indepen- 

 dent of labor difficulties. Experiments thus far con- 

 ducted show that in some instances more milk is se- 

 cured through the use of the machines and in others 

 less. It is believed, however, that where the ma- 

 chines are properly handled fully as good results 

 may be obtained with machine milking and with 

 much less labor. It should be stated that the ma- 

 chine has some objections and difficulties. The out- 

 lay at the beginning may prove a serious obstacle to 



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