MILKING BY MACHINERY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11499, 4 February 1903, Page 9

MILKING BY MACHINERY.

By F.R., in the "Australasian." Since the introduction of the cream separators there has been no more important invention or development in connection with the dairying industry than the milking-machine. Easily the greatest drawback with which tlie "dairyman has to con-tend to-day L« the uncertainty of labour, which, of course* presses hardest at the very time, in the of spring, when it is most important that, his cows should be thoroughly attended to. It is not .#rprisin?, then, that the dairyman should be watching, ns he is, with the liveliest interest, the various atu-mpts that are being made to provide some mechanical method of extracting the milk front £!;■• cow. The welcome which a perfect milking-machine would receive in u<ll ejcojinplified by the cordial reception which \v;is given to the Lainencp-Kfiim'riy nwchine, which, at tlie outset, promised' to solve the difficulty. Hundreds of these- m.-uliim-s wero bought . and installed all over tin- !*tat%». and it '.* only with the greatest reluctance that thecr is btiiiij suspondi'd. The LawronceKtnnedy machiiK' has.gone a w;iy towards meeting the iiei-ti for a mechanical milkfr; and it may ho regarded a.s i*t»rtain that. tlu\ defects ■niiich have been discovered will ultimately b<> remedied. At

the prvsent tin u>, in fact, mechanical engineers ai:J others are endeavouring t<i remove tbeso defects ; au3 «. patent has b4*)i taken out. in all tho StuU's and .ibroait, for an improvement tiisit, to the writer, ap\K\irn to mark a very decided sk'p forward, if it do»»s nor. solve the whole difficulty. This invention, if is pWsiftj; tn ti.ld, is the work of a Wostt'rii district farmer. Mr Alexander ft ill !<>.«, 'JLVrang.

Mr UilliY.s was one of »he Sirsfc dairymen in his district to adopt the Lawrenc?Kfrmclv machine, nnd he watelird if* work very keenly, with the result that h*> wns iilso one of the very first to discover its shortcomings. It may ho laid down an an axiom in this connection thnt th.--nearer the mechanical appliances approach the -natural process of a ralf's sucking the imuo likely arc they to X- successful. Both of the machines /Urernly hi use, tlic L.-X. nnd the HartiU'U-. have recognised this principle to- a certain extent. apply vacuum pressure, in pulsations, to the teat, which is correct as far as it The Hartnett. however, applies the pressure in the wrong manner, and thi«, -with othfT weaknesses, causes it to milk v<? ry slowly. Curiously enough, too. one of tbe most ingenious attachment* of this machine—a float that cuts off the vacuum when the milk ceases, nnd causes the machine to drop off the teats automatically— is worse than nsoiesx. Anyone with "the most elementary knowledge of cows knows that they frequently stop their milk during the milking process tor a few seconds, or a minute perhaps, and this natural Tact , spoils the purpose of the float. The L.-X. machine i<? fairly quick, and applies plenty of pressure; but its great drawback is tht» inability of the single tube to both apply the vacuum pressure to the teats and carry off the milk at tbe same time. T&» diffi<nltr..i» not. v«t *TOar*at wlitn

I the cows are not milking heavily, and :i I was to this reason that the preliminary : satisfaction with the work of the machines —mostly installed in the slack Reason —was due. With the heavy flow of milk in the flush of tnring, however, the single tube becomes quite unable , to do its work. The milk surges back to th*. Uat-cups, gradually accumulating, .until it begins to be driven up against the teats. All the while, of course, the vacuum is acting less and less satisfactorily on the teats. Tie consequences are that the cow is milked slower, and, most importan;, .she gets uneasy and annoyed, and holds back her milk.

The inventor of the new machine, who Ls a practical dairyman, at once saw that to by succssrful -the machine must act in such a way as to remove the miik quickly, and it must also work so as not to annoy th§ cow. The pover of the cow to hold up her milk for a time is in a way the ciux of the position. Cows milked by the L.-X. machine have often been allowed ;o stand for a few minutes, and then, when quietly milked by hand, they have g;v°n down perhaps half a gai'.on more milk. As so'jji a>4 this fact was observed dairymen usiug the mnchincs tried and machine-milking alternately, and fount!, u> their alarm, that they were losintf gallons of milk daily by the use of the machine. The h<mv invenMon provides at the outlet, by the use of two tubes, for a free flow of the milk away from the teat. The vacuum for applying pressure to the teat goes up a separate tube, and never goes near the milk. By this means the surging back of the milk is avoided. The inventor also, believing that the direct pressure of the vacuum on the bare tent ■sia.s distasteful to the co.v, provided a rubber interior lining, loose at the sides, which fits round the teat, and terminates at the bottom in the tubo that carries the m:ik (•way. The' vacuum for applying the pressure to the teat is let in at the Dottom of the teat-cup, between the rubber and the outside casing, and the rubber is fixed in

I such a way that the pressure imitutrs, with curious exactness, the sucking of a calf. This in itself is a most important factor. When the machine 13 working the vacuum forces the rubber to grip, with an upward preliminary jerk, at the top of the tea* (i.e.. neaift-:t tiic udder), and squeeze downwards with increasing pressure. At ihe same time a slight but steady vacuum pressure comes along the milk tube to the teat (this tube being joined to the interior rubber casing), and draws the milk rapidly awny as it i» forced by the squeezing action. The operation is immensely more comfortable to. and less severe on, the cow than the old process. Th#se machines have been in use for some weeks on the inventor's own herd of cows, where they have been watched very utrefully. not, only by th« inventor himself, but by dozens of other practical dairymen. Many of the latter have the L.-X. machines *ian<ling idle hi tlieir sheds, and ttiey are keenly interested in what may mean much to them. So far the machine is answering all expectations. It is getting all the milk away; getting it quicker than was the caw before, an'i the cow/i seem to like it. Cows that had got into the habit of holding up their milk with tilt* old machines are letting it down ■witJi this.