FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 24 January 1907, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY.

A number of gentlemen i:it.-i-f-i<d in Hin dairy indu.-try p.,;,) ~ v ;, it ' ( Mr W. K. Campbell's farm at Dinton lor I'ire purpose of witnessing a Imi' 01 a ~cw milking macliino invented bv iUr J. Harnett, of Melbourne TJi's inaelmie is tJio fir,t of its kind set up in Now Zealand. The victors were 'Cscortod to (] it . milking shed by Mr w . u. Campbell, whore four Hartnclt patent imni'ov ,1 milking machines had just been fitted up. The work liail born under the supervision of the inventor himself. The new machine, winch in sonic respeeds is on pretty much the same line as other milking machines, em brace several rather notable imiiiMve mcnU in its main features, wiiitli ;;ds greatly to it etlicacy. 'in the iirst place tin; inventor seems to have discovered the secret of squeezing tj cows' teats ami drawing Jm milk I; fc ono and t lie same operation, for whilst other machine- milk bv suction only the '•llartn.'tt' milks by pr<. ss „rc: anil suction combined. Tile sleeve of rub ber in.-ide the brass trio teat cups i 3 so contructcd, too, that when tlic power is turned on it expands and contracts exactly to imitate the action of the month of a calf when suckiii". Another very notable improvement m the machine is (i K > automatic releaser, by, which, when the cow ceases to give milk, the cup falls from the udder iiutomivtically, and hangs clear 0 f tho cow and the ground, so that when the cow is not giving milk the teats are not being operated upon. The auto matic apparatus is tilted in the top portion of the milk receiver, which has two compartments, and when the flow of milk ceases it gently shuts oil' tue vacuum and the cups release their hold of the teats. Amongst the cows some were very hard to milk by ham'., some very nervous, some that gave their milk very freely, and some that kicked badly whan milked bv band, having sore teats. Notwithstanding these varying circumstances, winch were known l.i no one but ibe owner of the cows, till after Ibe milking was finished, nothing occurred during I lie process of milking to indicate that one cow was harder or more troublesome to ini:k than another. lOach of them 'took very kindly to the machine, and some of tlinin were chewing (heir cad right through the operation.

A;i of tile visitors critically inspectod the machine and were grcallv pleased with tiio whole idea ami Lee excellent way in which it worked. The milk im drawn steaililv and consist vntly from the cows, ami there never was a hitch from ,tir( lo iini.sh. Tiie automatic releaser was considered a great success; and so was the acti.in of the pulsator which is so penile and so regulated tnat it is not likely to cause the slightest injury to the ones' teals. It may lie mentioned that the machine had only bee,, j,, usl . a few days prior io ' I'm u-y.v. Mr Campbell is extremely pVass;: with tne machine so far, and slated that the stripping:! from the X> cows aiuountecl lo about a bucketful. The cows, lie said, took very kindly to the machine from the start, and the average length of time occupied in milking each cow was about nine minutes. A new four horse -power oil engine has been placed in position, and 50 Jar is giving satisfaction, and is proving well suited for the work. At hie doe of the trial Mr ftorric bonked an order for a plant.—Southland Time.