Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-24
PASSING OF THE MILKMAlD.

The assistant chief of the dairy
division of the Department Of Ag-
riculture has been making a study
of the practical value of milking
machines with a result that knocks
the romance of the dairy higher than
Bossy ever kicked pail from the grip
of a green hand at the business. The
assistant chief, who happens to be G.
B. Lane, it should be remembered, Is
an expert in the dairy business and
what he does not know about cows
and milkmaids is not included in the
pamphlet just issued by the depart
ment under the title. 1.-THE Milking
Machine as Factor in Dairying."
In this edifying and instructive doc
ument, attention is called to the fact
that 1877 patents have been issued by
the government for milking ma
chimes, or for parts thereof, and con-
cludes that, owing to the difficulty in
securing competent folks to do the
milking by hand, great interest,
therefore, centers around the milking
machine" We should rather guess
yes, If there's any invention that is
designed to deprive the eldest
daughter of the family and the hired
man from the Joy Of meeting in the
barnyard or the dairy, just as the sun
goes down, and joining in the interest
to- ga sop,h4t,,aa oaNn rffoafo6 -uorE
of Inducing the old brindle to give
down" the public in general, and the
daughter and the hired man in partic-
ular, want to know about 1t.
Figuring 1t all down to nicely Mr..
Lane shows, in his report, that many
American cows have had the expert
ence of being addressed by machinery
and that the record shows a majority
of them to prefer that method to the
old hand system. He is extremely
frank, however, for a scientist, and ad-
mits that there are some objections,
obstacles in fact, to the general adop-
ton of the milking machine. 1T is be-
lieved," says Mr.. Lane, that such
rapid milking as that possible by the
use of machine. will eventually have
bad effect on the COW and after a
time she might object to the machine
and refuse to give down her milk"
There's the crux of the whole stu
ation--the milk in the ten-quart pail,
as it were. This admission that there
is a psychological side to the COW fur
nishes the slender thread upon which
the dairy maid must hang her hopes
against being put out of business
by the march of comhercialism. 1t is a
recognition OF the cows rights, her
privilege of refusing to submit without
protest to her own discontinue and
humiliation. Incidentally, every dairy
maid who has used the arts that would
overcome the bashfulness of the most
backward admirer extant knows that
the COW. III the final analysis, has the
power to make her protests effective.
The Agricultural Departments ex-
pert, cenceding that leach COW has an
individuality" expresses the hope that
the fine will come when a little versa
tilit on the part of the makers Of
milking machines will meet the
emergency by evolving a scheme for
ot grooming the eccentricities of the
yrshire, the Hereford, the Jersey and
',he unlabeled COW OF the farm who
knows nothing except to give milk,
when properly approached. All OF
this scientific talk is interesting and,
at times. diverting. but we fear the
American farmer will be slow to ac-
cept the inventions without first con-
sulting the COW and obtaining her con-
sent