LAWRENCE-KENNEDY MILKING MACHINE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8392, 8 April 1907, Page 3

LAWRENCE-KENNEDY MILKING MACHINE.

in :i\ "torrivvou fiiJ xim>\..-r/.'A <* oJiuwA oT"" 7 " 75- i** Mr Alexander Millar, of Huntly Farm, Dundee, in a paper recently read before the Glasgow and West of Scotland Agricultural Discussion Society, gave his ex p. nonce of milking machines as follow : The "Murchlin- ' was rny first venture, and Iwo dit continuously for some years w . varying success. It milked the tr.v urly well, but it was so > keep clean that it created labour er than saved it. Then, it had a uliar effect on the cows' teats. v'orking Ly continuous suction, uaused the skin of the teat to adi » o to the metallic lining of the cup, i thus interfered with the blood i : - jlation, so that, when the cups v. ■ i taken oir, the teata were oftci blue. However, it worked away sietly, and never spoke back—and r that I liked it —so I kept it gw -r. hoping against hope that somer og better would turn up. When :.■ lust the Lawrence Kennedy niacin)'' appeared with its pulsating movenu. t, I saw at once that it sulved on< working difficulty —the interferes c' with the blood circulation. Th< "catch" and "relieve" of the pulsating movement—so closely reseniiilir.g the action.of the calf's mouth tucking—made it evident that there would be no more bluo teats at any rate, and the rubber tubing of thii Lawrence Kennedy machine.looked a; if it would bo 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 v ork that 1 ordered an installation for my other farm, and for almost two years now I have liad this machine working twice daily on two siuparate farms, and managed by two separate staffs, milking twelve cows at a time on the one farm, eight ut 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 16th November last, and comparing it with the out-turn of 1904, with the same number of cows milking, viz., 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. I am 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-turn 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 expect-, .. aitiona. (.'-Then Lrfind another point! gradually coming into prominence, i , The cows actually thrive better when | machine milked. Almost all take i kindly to it from the very first.' It is so regular and gentle in its action that even the most nervous cow soon forgets her nerves. The cow knows exactly what to expect when the machine is set agoing at her teats, but it would be a very knowing cow that could tell beforehand what to expect from a band of hand milkers, ' especially if there had been some quarrel in the .kitchen or on the way to the byres. Of course, with two separate installations, rendered necessary between the farm steadings, I am not favourably placed for working with the utmost economy. I have two engines to keep going where one -' could suffice, and I have , one operator and one stripper more than would be necessary if all the stock were housed together, but my . experience enables me to see that three operators, nine machines, and two easily milk 160 cows in an Jla half. There is thus a saving of teff milkers. Against this, my coal account for the. year is £ls more, and repairs and renewals total £8 7s, ' .so that there is a very large balance ~ to make good depreciation of plant I and meet the interest on the first i ' cost. ' In answer to questions, he gave the following answers: — "His dairymaid found that the JMurchland machine was difficult to keep clean. There wero ninety parts which had to be taken down twice' a ■clay and cleansed. With the Lawrence Kennedy, cold water and then hot water were run through the pipes, and they did not get tainted. The cows never resented the Lawrence Kennedy from the first.. They had .never been beat with any cow, nor bad they any expense from machines '. being damaged or broken. "He had never experienced any difficulty in milking queys (heifers) with the machine; in fact, they were -easier handled than cows which had been accustomed to hand, milking. They had to have strippers after the machine, but they had to have that with handmilkers. He gave the cows an ounce of salt per day in the food. A person of average itelligence could work the machine, and the term changes had less terrors for him '.now than formerly. •His practice was to house the cows in the heat of; the day in summer, as they were out all night. sWhen they were tied by the neck they did not gallop." In the discussion which followed, .another farmer gave his experience . , -with, the machine as follows: — "Very recently an improved milking machine was placed on the market, and he could endorse everything that Mr Millar had said regarding it The machine did its duty quietly and well. But a good deal of the success of the machine depended on the j parties who worked it. He looked j - upon the milking machine as being a ' .thorough, success. One important J ■ point in the supplying of -milk 'was [ the question of cleanliness, and, if '■ proper means were taken to clean the cows' teats before the cups were put on, it was a perfect impossi-1 bility for such a thing .as - ash to ' get into the milk." —Farmers' Union Advocate. -, /' - i