AN IDEAL MILKING-MACHINE.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 8, Issue 30, 12 April 1907, Page 5

AN IDEAL MILKING-MACHINE.

Mr Alexander Millar, of Huntly Farm, Dundee, in a paper recently read before the Glasgow and West of Scotland Agricultural Discussion Society, gave his experience of milking machines as follows

When at last the Lawrence Kennedy machine appeared, with its pulsating movement, I saw at once that it solved one working difficulty—the interference with the blood circulation. The "catch” and "relieve” of the pulsating movement—so closely resembling the action of the calf’s mouth sucking—made it evident that there would be no more blue teats at anyrate, and the rubber tubing of the Lawrence Kennedy machine looked as if it would be much easier kept in order. So I had it fitted up experimentally at Huntly Farm, and after three months' trial of it there I was so well pleased with its work that I ordered an installation for my other farm, and for almost two years now I have had this machine working twice daily on two separate farms, and managed by two separate staffs, milking twelve cows at a time on the one farm and eight at a time on the other. I have thus been having experience in duplicate form, and, having been for years in the habit of keeping an accurate note of the milk brought from the out-farm, I am in a position to compare results with years of hand milking. Taking the year ending 15th November last, and,comparing it with the out-turn of 1904, with the same number of cows milking, namely, fifty, and fed and treated in pretty much the same manner, I find there is a balance in favour of the machine period of 187 gallons. When I compare the average of the four years before 1904, the balance is 196 gallons, This is not very much per cow if spread over twelve months, but it is on the right side. lam not able to give such accurate figures for Huntly, as for a time some were milked by hand, and the milk was all totalled together, but I can compare the out-turn of butter during twelve months of machine-milking and twelve months of milking by hand, and here again the out-run is slightly in favour of the machine period. When I made my calculations previous to ordering an installation I did so on the supposition that possibly the machine might do almost as well as hand-milking, but the result has bettered my expectation. Then, I find another point gradually coming into prominence. The cows actually thrive better when machine-milked. Almost all take kindly to it from the very first. It is so regular and gentle in its action that even he most nervous cow soon forgets her nerves,