THE MILKING MACHINE 169 



also is a very common cause of garget as well as causing the cow 

 to dry up ahead of time. 



The Milking Machine. — From the many reports by experi- 

 ment stations, and otherwise, regarding the efficiency and prac- 

 ticability of the mechanical milker it is obvious that at least some 

 of the machines, as now developed, and at present represented 

 by a dozen or more companies, will milk cows, that is, draw 

 from the udder most of the milk contained therein, but that it 

 will not strip out as thoroughly as desired nor yet massage the 

 mammary glands for the purpose of stimulating blood flow, and 

 much less excite in the cow's nervous system the impulse to 

 milk secretion. The fact that some dairymen are continuing 

 to use the machine and are well pleased with it after an experi- 

 ence of from three to six years is evidence that the machine itself 

 is already in a reasonably high stage of perfection, but the fact 

 that many farmer dairymen who introduce the machine later 

 lay it aside, would indicate that the difficulty of finding ^the right 

 man to operate the machine is great. One is almost tempted to 

 draw the conclusion that the machine has reached a higher stage 

 of perfection than have the operators. 



If on a two-man farm forty or fifty cows may be kept by the 

 assistance of the mechanical milker the advantages of the larger 

 number of cows or the small number of men is obvious. In the 

 dairies of fifty or more cows where transient labor must be 

 depended upon, it seems highly probable that one of the mechan- 

 ical milkers will be found a profitable investment, provided the 

 owner operates the machine himself. 



Some machines are not provided with adequate regulators 

 of the suction force, while others have no way provided for the 

 relief of the teat from constant or near-constant suction. Cows 

 do not object to the feel of the teat cups nor to the click of the 

 machine. In fact many now on the market are easier on the 

 cow than are ordinary hand milkers with untrimmed finger nails. 



The whole matter of mechanical milkers now resolves itself 

 into three questions, the cost for the number of cows to be 

 handled, the handling so as to keep up the flow of milk and the 

 sanitary character of the product drawn. If a man has feed 



