5S Report oF DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY OF THE 
INTRODUCTION 
One of the most important factors retarding the proper 
development of dairying is the difficulty of getting milkers who 
can be depended upon to do their work satisfactorily. The 
size of the dairy, except in rare instances, is restricted to the 
number of cows which the owner can attend to at such times 
as his help fails him. The last census shows that in the State 
of New York, on farms where 40 per ct. or more of the income 
is derived from the sale of dairy products, there is an average 
of less than 14 cows per farm. Moreover, nearly one-third 
of the cows in this State are on farms not included in the 
above class and on these farms the average is less than 5 cows | 
per farm. 
If the question of milking the cows without being so depend- 
ent upon hired help could be satisfactorily solved, the number 
of cows kept on dairy farms would increase up to the limit 
of the ability of the acreage to feed the animals economically. 
Instead of an average of 14 per farm the average would be 
more than double that number. Dairying would then become 
a business on such farms, to be carefully studied and run on 
business lines, instead of being a minor matter to be little 
studied and less understood, as is now too often the case. 
Because of the immense economic importance of this question 
of milking a keen interest has arisen in the milking machines 
which have been put upon the market during recent years. 
Inquiries concerning them have been constantly coming to this 
Station and satisfactory answers to these questions could not 
be given until these machines had been studied. Early in 1906 
a Globe milking machine was installed in the Station barn. 
Owing to the withdrawal of this machine from the market in 
the winter of 1906 the Globe machine was replaced in the 
spring of 1907 by a Burrell-Lawrence-Kennedy cow milker 
which is being studied at the present time. During the past 
two years this latter machine has been undergoing rapid im- 
provement and many statements which were made regarding 
the earlier types of this machine are not true of the machine 
which is now upon the market, 
