CREAM SEPARATION 79 



57. Size. — Ordinarily, for farm use, a separator should 

 be of such a size or such capacity that it will separate 

 the milk produced by a herd at one milking in one-half 

 hour or less. Usually a farmer's time is worth sufficient 

 to make it cheaper for him to buy a large enough sepa- 

 rator than to use more time in operating a smaller and 

 cheaper machine. Other farm conditions must be con- 

 sidered in the choice of a separator of proper size. It 

 may be the plan of the farmer to increase or decrease 

 the size of his dairy herd, and, since a separator will 

 wear for many years, these expectations must be borne 

 in mind. In buying a separator for creamery use, both 

 the maximum and the minimum quantities of milk for 

 different seasons of the year should be considered. 



58. Supplies for repairing purposes. — The obtaining 

 of supplies without difficulty is one of the most im- 

 portant considerations in buying a separator, and this 

 point should be especially emphasized in localities where 

 transportation facilities are limited. Most of the manu- 

 facturers have supply centers in many sections, so that 

 in case of a breakdown new parts can be obtained 

 quickly. Some dealers in separators carry a stock of 

 supplies. 



59. Other factors. — The other factors to be considered 

 need little discussion. They are : preference for certain 

 makes ; price ; amount of power required for operation ; 

 accessibility to parts, and number of parts to be cleaned ; 

 simplicity of entire construction ; indication of durabil- 

 ity; efficiency, as shown in the amount of milk-fat left 

 in the skimmed-milk and in the ability of the machine to 

 separate the guaranteed number of pounds of whole milk 

 an hour. 



