MILKING BY MACHINERY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8174, 6 August 1906, Page 3

MILKING BY MACHINERY.

That the day of milking by machinery has now arrived even the most sceptical will admit, and the time is not far distant when the question that a dairyman will ask himself is not whether he can afford to buy a milking outfit, but whether he can afford to do without it. To lteep abreast of the times and make the most of their herds and pastures dairymen will he forced into machine-milking. Enough has been proved already to show that some milking machines on the market have already done good work, The difference between the cost of hand-milking and milking by machinery is an important matter. On this subject the experience of Mr liidd, a practical dairyfarmer, of Waipuku*, Taranaki, who lias been using a milking machine for upwards of four seasons, is of particular interest, and the following figures, supplied by this gentleman, throw some light on the subject—Machineniilking: One hundred cons, four pulsators, two good men, wages at £2 per week each man, £I'U.S ; interest on instalment, say, at 7 per cent., £M ; depreciation, 10 per cent, £2O; repairs and renewals, £10; total, £252. Hand-milking: One hundred cows, live milkers, at £1 10s each, including board and lodgings ; total, £3'JU. This shows a saving of £1;!S during the season, or equal to £1 7s Gd per cow. Air liidd states that 011 the quantity of butter-fat produced the relative cost of machine-milking was 2.B(id per lb., while that of handtmlking would cost 4/13.1 per lb. While the machine got through the work ill two hours, handmilking would take fully three houis. To give some idea of what can be saved by adopting machine milking. Mr Ridd instances a ease of a fiOcow dairy, which he. was working on shares on the hand niiiking system, the cost of which r. u into £235 per year. 13y using two machines, one man docs the whole of the work, and the total cost of wages, depreciation, repairs, etc. amounts to £132, showing a saving of £lO3, or £1 8s ( ! d per row per annum. That these figures are in n) way exceptional is borr.e out by the experience of other well-known users, not only in this colony, bat in Australia, w here the milking machine has taken a lirni hold, and is in use on some of the best known dairy farms. —'' Auckland Herald."