SUCCESSFUL MILKING MACHINE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 53, 11 June 1910, Page 7

SUCCESSFUL MILKING MACHINE

Success in all branches of mechanics is keenly followed •by the public, and the immense interest now being displayed in the development of the flying machine forms a striking example. No doubt in a few years the conquest of the-air will have developed into a commercial and economical success and will be accepted by the public as .an ordinary factor in everyday life. This will only be.a repetition of the history and development ol every great economical factory of modern times. Since the advent of the cream separator and the reaper «nd binder no economical aid to the farming community has been produced to equa-J the commercial success of the miltying machine. The milking machine is not a modem idea as records of patents taken out are to be found as far back as 1819, and it is further evident that innumerable attempts were made during the past century to produce a successful milker. While manv of the machines presented successful mechanical features they one and all failed to overcome the difficulty of making an inanimate appliance perform an animate function. The milking machine, like perpetual motion, was regarded by the public as one of the great impossibilities. In 1806 Messrs Lawrence and Kennedy, of Glasgow, obtained .patents/ for a machine that seemed to he nearer the action of the Jiving calf, having a combination of intermittent suction and pressure. The first L. and K. machines were brought to Australia in 1901, and to New Zealand in 1902. These machines were not heralded by any public announcement, but were quietly put to work and asked to prove their ability to solve the great .problem. For some months the results seemed eminently satisfactory, and it was not till the full flush of the season that they proved an economical failure. Undaunted, the inventors still persevered in their efforts and finally chance sent to their assistance an Australian dairy farmer named Gillies, who had discovered that by admitting in a certain manner a small quantity of air to the milk passage even the heaviest milking cows could be satisfactorily and thoroughly milked. Gillies' patent was obtained in May, 1003, and was combined wdth those of Lawrence and Kennedy, thus producing the first successful mechanical milker the world has ever seen. The old L. and K. machines were .promptly re-modelled and the Gillies patent added. Again the maehine9 were quietly put to .practical work, .and this time the results could uot be mistaken. Gradually a few more plants were put to work, and in three years' time the dairy farming community suddenly realised that the milking machine had not only arrived, but had for some time been quietly making its way into general use. No advertisers or canvassers were necessary to .push the sale. The labor-ridden dairy farmer opened ■wide his arms and gave the L.K.G. the warmest possible welcome. As an indication of the success achieved by this machine the number installed in l*Ji)2 amounted to 12 only, while at 31st March last the total machines sold throughout New Zealand had in eight years amounted to over 1500. To get some idea of the general use into which the L.K.G. has arisen, out of 543,000 cows in New Zealand recorded last year under the Stock Act as for dairy purposes over 54,000 are being milked by these -iachiries. This means that over ten per cent, of the dairy cows in the Dominion are milked by the L.K.G. machines. Truly can this machine claim to have marked an epoch in the history of the dairying industry. Tn Australia, Tasmania, North America, Denmaru, EngJand and Scotland, the L.K.G. has made rapid strides and can now claim a worldwide reputation. It is interesting to note that the valuable Gillies patents which "a re responsible for the first successful milking machine have still some years to mn in Australasia, and until 'thev expire are the sole property of the L.K.G. machine.