The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1904-09-20
THE HAND
If You Have Six or More Cows, You are Losing Money
If You are Without One.

Will 1t pay TO purchase d LII separator Y d
farm where six or more cows are kept? This is
a question that repeatedly crops up. The separa-
tor has now been so long on the market that it's
useful qualities are well established. 1t is gen
orally known that a good machine will skim down
to 1 of 1 per cent of fat; that it will extract the
cream from the milk while it is still.warm; that
it will thoroughly aerate the milk and remove
from it the cowy odor, which is not onlv disagree
able to the taste, but which, if retained, tends
to develop undesirable ferments and hastens the
souring of the milk. Then the separator also
removes all the dirt particles from the milk, hairs,
and a fair per cent of the bacteria which get
into the milk from one source and another, SO
that in a certain sense it acts as a preservative
of the milk. The separator also enables the skim
milk to be fed warm and fresh, a matter of the
greatest Importance where calves are to be raised
ON the farm. Fresh, warm milk is not so import
tant for hogs which seem to do as well apparent
ly on sour milk as on the freshly separated
article fed warm. But when fed warm and sweet
there is much less danger of undesirable forms of
bacteria gaining a foothold in the stable or the
hog barn, and so cholera and other dread disease
are not so likely to develop as where filthy slop
barrels are permitted.
The hand separator has many peculiar advan-
tages in the South. It is a custom on many
farms where a few cows are kept to churn all the
milk every day. This can be avoided by the use
of the separator, as the bulk of the milk can be
reduced so much that in some sections ice can
be utilized to preserve the cream at a profit,
whereas, it could not be used with the whole
milk. Again, the cream can often be preserved
in cold water from a spring, whereas a number
of large cans of milk could not be accommodated
In a warm climate milk ferments very quickly
~servation of the quality of the milk is a matter
of the gravest Importance where it is to be placed
on the market as human food. Pasteurization has
frequently been tested to preserve it, but it has
been found in many instances that sanitary sur
roundings and the immediate aeration and sepa-
ration of the milk and cream will preserve it al
most as long as pasteurizing, and the operation
of separation is much simpler than that of pas
teurization, and does not affect the taste or COM
position of the milk In the slightest degree. Some
may imagine that If the milk is passed through
a separator the milk and cream will not readily
mix again. Such is not the case, however, If
the two are run directly into one vessel and thor
oughly stirred before bottling. Climatic con-
ditions, economy In handling the product, the
excellence of the skim milk on farms where but
ter-making is practiced, all commend the use of
the separator even on the small dairy farm.
The amount of money required for the pur-
chase OF a f~rst-class separator to handle the milk
from a NAH dozen or more COWS Is very small IN
comparison with the benefits derived. Where the
whole milk is churned the separator will Offset
the labor involved in handling so great a volume,
which will only yield a few pounds of butter at
best. Then, if an attempt is made to skim the
milk by hand through deep setting, the per cent
of fat lost in a year will amount to more than
the purchase price of a separator. 1t has been
definitely shown in many instances that the hand
separator will more than pay for itself the first
year of its use by reason of the fat saved. It
is not uncommon where shallow setting IS prac-
ticed for L to 2 per cent of the fat to be lost;