VOL. LXI;
5 PU3LIC bTnT?AT?V |
INDIANAPOLIS, NOVEMBER 24, 1906.
NO. 47
MILKINQ MACHINESr" ~^
The Scarcity of   Labor and Milking; Drudgery   Soon to be Overcome.
We are doubtless ou the eve of as great
er greater advance in the dairy industry
as that -which has marked its improvement in the adoption of cream separators.
The milking machine, indeed, goes deeper
into this problem than the separator
does, for it is demonstrated already by
their use that they secure absolutely pure
milk, by avoiding contact of the milk
with the air, dust and dirt of the dairy
barn in milking, as we have before described in our articles on the milking machines in use. These machines now provide a quality of milk much higher and
freer from bacteria than fixed by the
hygiene and health rules requiring standard milk. With, a wider knowledge of
advantages of the milking machines we
shall soon have both absolutely pure milk,
and freedom from hand-milking drudgery
which has deterred so many from going
into the dairy business, and made labor
shy in dairy work.
We give herewith another illustration of
one of the milking machines heretofore
alluded to in our columns,   which is in use
in munr dairies.
It should be said in this connection that
the highly nervous organization of a dairy
cow is rarely appreciated as it should be.
Ignorance of the sensitiveness of her nature causes farmers producing milk for
the market much annoyance and loss every
year. This element of loss is caused
principally by the shrinkage in the flow of
milk resulting from harsh treatment or
sudden change in condition or handling.
Slight changes in feed or care easily manifest themselves, which will result in a
contraction of all the milk glands where
an expansion is desired.
In the natural process of removing the
milk from the udder of the cow the conditions are in every way opposite to hand
milking. Few people think of this when
milking a cow though this may cause her
to hold up her milk. The fault is not in
the cow, but with the person doing the
milking, who has in some way irritated
the nerves that control the milk glands
and thereby stopped the flow of milk. The
expression that a cow "holds up" her
milk, is therefore obviously erroneous, as
more often it is caused by the milker, and
not the cow.
When a calf sucks its mother it takes
but a part from one quarter at one time
moving from one quarter to another a
number of times at each meal. In hand
milking two quarters are drawn at once
the contact with the teat being eintirely
different from the natural process making
it necessary for the man to "break the
cow in," or better to teach her to milk by
hand, not only with her first calf, but often with subsequent freshening. People
have become so accustomed to this "breaking in" process that they think little or
nothing of it. It is a part of the routine
of dairying, taking more or less time according to tho disposition of the cows.
In the designing of a machine for milking cows to take the place of the hand
process the manufacturers are obviously
confronted with a difficult problem, very
. much resembling the one which puzzled
the first man who attempted to get milk
from the cow for his use. It. undoubtedly discouraged him when he tried to imitate the calf, and after long thinking nnd
laborious effort he succeeded in "breaking
in" the cow, and in the hard task of
educating himself to milk by hand.      And
y no one can milk successfully
by hand without several months of practice, and even then there is a wide difference in milkers, aud far too many of
them are and always will be poor hand
milkers. So far is this true that the
dairyman who wants to keep up the daily
average of his cows avoids changing milkers as much as possible, for he knows
that to change milkers will reduce the
flow of milk very materially. He also
knows that it is extremely difficult to bring
the cows back to the original quantity. Of
course he anathemizes the milker, but, as
is always the case, the anathema returns
on his own head, his men have felt the in-
The process is artificial because all four
quarters are simultaneously relieved,
making it necessary for four
distinct bunches of nerves to operate at
once, where nature had provided that but
one set should operate at a time, because
the glands in a cow must be called upon to
secrete the milk in a fraction of the time
nature has provided, and because the teat-
cups no matter of what material made are
entirely different from the mouth of a
calf.
The apparatus as made when attached
and ready for use has a soothing effect
upon, the nerves of the udder, and the
method of attaching to the cow such as
cows wants a practical machine reducing
the cost of production and enabling him
to produce a better quality of milk which
v/ill bring  a  higher  price.
Hand and Power    Milking Machine.
justice of the criticism knowing that it
was owing as much to the sensitive nature
of the cow, as to their fault, and we find
less nnd less men willing to undertake the
job of milking, ami endure the everlasting
work twice a day with no change or let up.
The most serious question confronting
dairymen today is the question of good
milkers. How many boys have left the
farm on account of the milking? Bad
stable conditions, unsanitary handling of
milk, is the constant question of state
and municipal legislation to correct. The
source of milk supply when seen by consumers has often reduced sales. Milk
is the only perfect feed, building up and
restoring all parts of the body alike, and
in these latter years this fact is better appreciated than ever before, but the quality and condition -of the milk has checked
consumption and held the price down. To
mitigate the present evils in the production of pure milk the milking machine can
do more than all other agencies combined,
as a properly constructed machine doubles
and quadruples a man's capacity to milk,
and the milk itself is pure and clean.
Milk drawn with the machine will keep
twice as long, nnd its bacteriological content is so low that practically all of the
present trouble in handling pure milk is
removed. Henc3 in the designing of a
milking n< ichine the following principles
are laid down, and absolutely carried
out in its construction. Natural processes
are imitated as closely as human ingenuity
can devise.
Machine milking is an artificial process,
hence the cow must necessarily be "broken  in"    kindly, gently    and  deliberately.
not only prevents the cow from kicking or
moving about, but being in the least uneasy. Excessive suction is avoided. The
attachment to the cow, or the teat-cups fit
all cows.
It is impossible to injure the teats or
udder of the cow by the use of the apparatus as we noted it in use recently.
The apparatus is constructed powerful
enough to milk the hardest milker, and
gentle enough so that it will not irritate
the most sensitive or easiest milker.
The machine is easily and quickly removed from one cow to another, and the
teat-cups easily and quickly detached from
the machine for cleansing.
All parts of the aparntus which come in
contact with the milk nre so constructed
as that they can be easily aud thoroughly
cleaned without taking apart, for no matter how well made any machine is an inexperienced person will often find difficulty in putting it back together in as
good shape as an expert would, to say
nothing of the time consumed in taking
apart and assembling it.
All parts are so simple as to be inexpensive and readily taken apart and assembled, and made so durable that with
good care they will last for a number of
years wihout any part wearing out, as it
is a recognized axiom that all farm machinery should be so simple that if repairs
or new parts are needed a farmer can do
the work himself without the aid of a mechanic. All parts of the machine are
made in duplicate so they can be easily replaced.
The small dairyman with 10 or 15 cows,
or the    large dairyman    with 50 or more
The Paanimv of the Buffalo
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Spending nearly three years in California, on the 3d day of December, 1860,
at 9 o'clock in the morning four other men
and myself took passage on the Butter-
field Stage and mail coach at San Francisco for St. Louis, Mo. Each of us had
to put up. $200 in gold for our passage,
and feed ourselves on the way; total,
$260. The most of the way our fare
was bread, coffee, bacon and beaus, with a
change to deer, antelope, buffalo and
o'possum. The   route  was   from   Sau
Francisco to Los Angeles, through Arizona, aud New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas,
over what then was called the Stake
plains, by way of Ft. Belknap, and
through the Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw
nations to Ft. Smith, Arkansas to Van
Buren, Springfield, and to Sedalia, Mo.
There we left the stage coach and came
by railroad to St. Louis. We arrived at
Sedalia at 5 o'clock in the evening, and at
11 o'clock that night, Christinas eve, we
were at the Planter's Hotel in St. Louis.
We traveled by stage 135 miles every 24
hours, only stopping long enough to eat
three meals each 24 hours, and to change
horses.
Now as to the buffalo. I read an article but a few days ago, in the Louisville
Courier Journal, in regard to Ihe buffalo
of the plains of Teams and up to Colorado, wherein the writer made an estimate of the number that these plains were
capable of sustaining at that time; the estimate being based upon the number of
stock raised there at present. His estimate was 40,000,000. Now, from what
I saw one day on the plains of Texas I
am not disposed to criticize his estimate
as too great. We drove among the buffalo one morning at 8 o'clock, and drove
through buffalo until 4 o'clock in the evening, making about 44 miles of buffalo,
and just as far as the eye could see across
the plains in all directions the earth was
spotted with them. I have never made
an. estimate of the number that I saw that
day; I just give the sight as I saw it and
let the other fellow make the calculation.
Four years ago, last August and September, I took a trip of 52 days to the West,
by way of Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne,
Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Salt
Lake, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los
Angeles and back to Sacramento, Portland. Senttle and Spokane, over the Northern I'acific, to Chicago. What a change
42 years has made in that region I was
once familiar with. Our western country
has developed so much faster than the
east. And yet there is room for many
more to seek homes there.
Richard Devenish.
Washington Co.
Ater the regular farm work is done
this fall it wouldn't be a bad idea to go
into the orchard and remove the dead; and
blighted limbs from the trees; and a
dressing of good barnyard manure around
the trees will help to bring a better crop
next season.
It is claimed by experienced horticulturists that plum trees yielding an inferior
quality of fruit can be benefited by a severe cutting back of the long branches,
thus making them head in near the body
of the tree.