The Sunday Herald, Boston, January 7, 1909
Milking Cows by Foot Pressure, Steam and Electrical
Machinery
Practical Farm Experiments Show that Ordinary Hand
Methods are Less Cleanly, More Expensive and Much Slower than the New Devices
So many improvements in milking machines have been
made in the last half dozen years that more than 1000 such devices are now in
use on the larger dairy farms. They are giving, on the whole, very good
satisfaction. In many instances the supply of milk has been slightly increased.
Greater sanitary benefits have been realized. Cost of operation has been
reduced. Time has been saved. No ill effects have been observed in the cows,
and in general numerous annoyances of old standing have been eliminated most
effectively though New England farmers
have not yet shown decided willingness to take up with the machines, the
less conservative dairymen of the Middle West think pretty well of them.
While farm help is numerous enough in this part of
the country, it is frequently a scarcity on the larger farms just west and east
of the Mississippi. That scarcity of milkers, as well as the unreliability of
many of them, has had a tendency to keep many men from going into dairy
farming. It has compelled more than one dairyman to give up his projects.
Milking two cows at the same time with one machine,
is one of the innovations, and, imperfect as it is, it indicates pretty clearly
how things are going to be done in the next years. A few machines have been
devised to keep the milk from the two cows separate. On any of the great farms
of the Middle West today may be seen in the interior of a large barn long rows
of cows patiently submitting to the process of mechanical milking over and
above their occasional mooings is the buzzling of the motor apparatus.
The annual reports of the United States Commissioner
of patents show that from 1872 to 1905, inclusive, 127 patents were taken out
in this country alone for milking machines or separate parts of them. A number
of machines have been successful in extracting the milk from the cow by either
pressure or suction, or, by the two combined, but have fallen short of being
practical in some vital point.
Naturally inventors have attempted to imitate the
way in which the calf sucks. The difficulty has been to reproduce the peculiar
influence which the sucking calf has upon the cow and to devise machine which will not irritate the animal and
which will do its work without injury. Another difficulty in devising a cow
milker has been to construct it so that it could be adjusted to all cows.
C.B. Lane, assistant chief of the dairy machines
[said] they milked an average of 52 ½ try [?] , a sub-department of the United
States department of agriculture, has recently made a most interesting report
of his study of milking machines. In order to have an expression of direct
opinion, he sent a number of questions to all dairymen who were known to have
used machines for a considerable time.
Nine reported that heifers adapted themselves
readily to the machines; one stated that heifers took to them more readily than
old cows, and one reported no experience. Of the five instances where one man
handled two machines, the average number of cows milked was 23, and the average
time required to milk them was 47 minutes, or practically two minutes per cow.
In the instance where one man handled three machines he milked 30 cows in 60
minutes. In the case where two men handled four machines 27 cows were milked in
40 minutes. In the two instances where two men handled five machines they
milked an average of 52 ½ cows in 68 ½ minutes. Where two men handled six
machines the time required was one minute per cow. Again, where three men and
boys were just learning they milked 30 cows in 55 to 75 minutes.
Six dairymen stated that they found little
difference in the amount of milk produced, whether the cows were milked by hand
or machine; four thought the machines increased the flow and one stated that
the effect of the machines on production was good.
All the dairymen reported machine milking to be
superior to hand milking.
In the course of his investigations Mr. Lane made it
his business to be present in a barn of about 40 cows the first time the machines
were put in operation. “Some of the animals,” he says , “were a little restless
at first, owing to the sight of the machines and the clicking of the pulsators,
buy soon they become quiet and reconciled to their action. The feature which is
perhaps a little surprising is that heifers took to the machines as readily as
the older cows.
“Only one cow in the herd in question made any
disturbance at all while the machines were being attached, and this was due principally
to attaching the machine on the opposite side from that on which the cow has
been accustomed to be milked by hand. This cow, however, soon became quiet. The
majority of the cows appeared to like the machines and stood quietly chewing
their cuds without manifesting any discomfort. A careful examination was made
of the cows’ teats and udders in several dairies where the machines had been in
operation for several months (in one case over three years) and no ill effects
were discovered. On two or three occasions it was observed that when strangers
came into the barn during milking time a cow would appear frightened and refuse
to give down all of her milk. This occurred with cows being milked either by
hand or by machine. When the machines are properly adjusted, cows of a nervous
disposition do not seem to resent the method.
One of the most interesting milking machines which
has been in use on a number of large dairy farms consists of an ordinary milk
pail made of block tin and holding about 15 quarts. On top of this pail is a
tight fitting lid of aluminum. On this lid is mounted a pump or pulsator which
works automatically and causes the intermittent action of the machine.
Connections are made by means of rubber tubing to the exhaust and air pressure
pipes, which are led through the stable with convenient branches between the
cows. Two rubber tubes, each about three feet long, are also connected with
convenient nozzles on the lid, and on the other end of each are four cups which
fit snugly over the cow’s teats, two cows being milked into one pail. As the
pulsator oscillates (at the rate of about 60 times a minute) the vacuum is
alternately turned on and off, the teat cups causing suction and release at
each alternate stroke.
The machinery for operating the pulsator consists of
an exhaust pump and a compressor; the exhaust produces the suction and operates
the pulsator in the opposite direction.
A feature of another machine is a simple air pump,
composed of two cylinders, each of which is in its action independent of the
other. One cylinder milks one cow and one the other. One cylinder milks one cow
and one the other. The valve chambers supported at the ends of the rods, are
for the purpose of keeping the milk from running back into the pump, and also
to give the pump sufficient and continued suction for the space of about 10 to
15 seconds. When the pressure is off of one of these valve chambers the milk
flows from it of its own gravity into the pail. Each cow can be milked
separately or both can be milked into one pail, as desired.
Cows can be milked into either open or closed pails.
The machine is operated by either hand or power. The hand machine being
convertible into a power machine by simply bolting an air device to it. In the
operation of the power machine it is necessary to pipe [to] the stables [with]
a compressed air tank, which must be filled by some power running an air
compressor. There are no pulsators or vacuum pumps in the construction of the
machine. The teat cups are provided with a rubber sleeve.
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| Mehring Milker |
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| Mehring Milker |
Then
there is a foot power milker designed for use on the smaller farms. It has a
suction pump worked by foot power, two pieces of rubber hose and eight suction
cups, which attach to the texts of the two cows, milking them both at the same
time. The milk passes through the cylinder and also through the valve in the
pump piston itself. The operator sits between the two cows and works the pump
with his feet.
On
opening the spigot the suction rapidly draws the cups up and down over the
teats and the milk begins to flow into the pail which is hung on the spout of
the pump. By means of a spigot the suction may be cut off when the teat is
empty. The milk is conveyed from the spigot to the head, where the milk from
all four teats unites and passes into large hose, which carries it to the pail.
A fourth machine draws the milk by intermittent
suction, which may be created by either a vacuum pump or steam ejector.
Connected with the vacuum pump is a vacuum reservoir and a pipe running the
whole length of the stable, with a connection valve or vacuum cock between each
pair of cows. A safety valve is connected to the reservoir to prevent the
vacuum from running higher than is desired.
The machine is placed between the pair of cows. A
rubber tube connects the pail top or pulsator with the vacuum cock above the
stanchions. On opening the cock the air is drawn from the pail. Then the motor
immediately starts. The pressure is about 7 ½ pounds to the square inch. The
flexible tubes lead from the pail cover.
At the end of each tube are four cups, which are
fitted over the teats of the cow. The milk from the two cows is discharged into
one pail. The vacuum pulsations run from 50 to 70 per minute, and may be easily
adjusted to the speed required. The milk in passing from the cow to the pail
goes through a glass inspection tube, so that the operator may watch the flow.
When the milk ceases to run, the suction is turned off and the action of the
machine stops.
In a business in which every cent of outgo and
income counts, every former obviously wishes to know something about the cost
of equipping his cow stable with milking machines. Here are some statistics,
furnished by Mr. Lane, which will apply to a herd of 40 cows:
- An engine or some power with which to drive the machine for milking up to 8 cows at a time, a 2-horsepower gasoline engine may be used, costing…$105.00
- A vacuum pump, costing…75.00
- A vacuum tank, like a tank that is used in connection with ranges or stoves in kitchens…11.00
- The piping with valves, etc., etc., necessary in barn, depending upon extent of plant, number of cows, etc., costing for 42 cow dairy about…25.00
- Four milking machines, costing…300.00
- Total…$516.00
In a general way it may be said that the entire cost of installing a plant for herds of different sizes would be about as follows:
For a dairy of 30 cows, with 2 milking machines, milking 2 cows each or 4 cows at one time, cost per cow…12.00
For a dairy of 60 cows, with 4 machines, milking 8 cows at one time, cost per cow…
For a dairy of 70 cows, with 5 machines, milking 10 cows at one time, cost per cow…
For dairy of 110 cows with 8 machines, milking 16 cows at one time, requiring about a 4 horsepower engine and a large pump, cost per cow…10.00
One good careful man or woman can operate four machines milking eight cows simultaneously, and an additional hand can not only carry away the milk but assist in manipulating the cow’s udders. The operating expense of the machines is comparatively small.The kind of power which a farmer may choose for the operation of his milkers is not important provided that it be uniform and dependable, gasoline engines one of the most common just now. For farmers located near cities electricity is a convenient power. Sometimes it is possible to make arrangements with the trolley roads. Where steam is used for other purposes on the farms---as most notably in the Middle West---it can be made to run milkers at little extra expense.
It is Mr. Lane’s conclusion that “the large dairyman will be the first to adopt the cow milker for the reason that his equipment will cost him less per cow that it will the small dairyman. Again, the large dairyman has more at stake and has to depend entirely upon the hired men to do the work. If they fail him the work falls upon himself or perhaps upon a very limited number of helpers. With the installation of the milking machine the large dairyman is much more independent, and, if necessary, can milk a herd of 50 cows without assistance. However, there seems to be no good reason why a dairyman with a herd of even 10 or 12 cows could not use a machine with profit. The power required could be secured at small cost, and the time saved could be used to advantage in working the team longer on the farm in other ways.”
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