Estonian Chamber of Agriculture in first half of XX century (0)

1 Hindamata

Milking
machine
Merlin -Hans Hiiekivi
Regards about inventing a
milking machine
• Development of a usable milking
machine took several decades of
trial and error .
• Some editors of 19th century dairy
and ag publications acknowledged a
need for a good milking machine,
but, were dissatisfied with all that
were being offered. Others
discouraged all attempts at machine
milking, stating that it was unnatural
or intrinsically injurious to the cow.
Early Cow Milking Machines
• The earliest devices for mechanical milking
were tubes inserted in the teats to force open
the sphincter muscle, thus allowing the milk to
flow.
• Skillfully made tubes of pure silver , gutta
percha, ivory, and bone were marketed in the
mid-19th century, and, in fact , a few were still
being sold well into the 20th century.
• A novel milking tube illustrated in the Scientific
American in 1875, used a slide valve at the
bottom of each catheter to close off the opening.
• Several U.S. patents were granted for milking
tubes joined by flexible rubber tubing to direct
the milk to pail.
• The extensive tubing increased the problem of
contamination already present with the use of
catheters.
• .
• Catheter milking was blamed for
various problems, such as spread
of disease , weakened sphincter
muscles causing continuous
dribbling, and injury to the teats.
• At this point, The American
Agriculturist began to accept
advertisements for milkers,
although , very few were printed.
Their expressed opinion was that
the milkers were of little value , but,
did no apparent harm to the cows.
Variety
• The great variety and number of early milking
machines can be categorized into two groups,
those that tried to emulate hand milking
(mechanical pressure devices), and those that
tried to emulate the sucking calf (vacuum
devices).
• Proponents of both types of milkers turned out an
endless variety of contraptions for over 50 years ,
until the modern pulsator made the suction
method the clear winner.
First vacuum milker
patents
• Hodges and Brockenden secured an English patent for such a
device in 1851 .
• In America, Anna Baldwin patented such a milker, using a
pitcher pump and bucket in her patent illustration.
• In 1859 , S.W. Lowe, of Philadelphia, patented a cup fitted with
a diaphragm with 4 holes for the teats. A hand cranked suction
pump drew milk from all four teats at once .
• Such devices created a continuous suction on the udder,
damaging the mammary tissue and frequently causing the cow
to kick.
• In 1859, John Kingman, of Dover , NH, patented a tin teat
cup with elastic flange for use with a suction pump
milker.
• The first successful use of teat cups with a vacuum
milker is found in the 1860 patent of L.O. Colvin, perhaps
America's most famous inventor of early milking
machines. This lever operated suction device drew a
great response from the agricultural press.
• However , the Colvin milker still subjected the cow's teats
to constant vacuum, causing blood to pool there . Colvin
sold the English patent for this machine for $5000, and,
at least 1500 machines were sold in England , according
to an article in The Agricultural Gazette.
• In Scotland , William Murchland invented a very successful
vacuum milker in 1889, which hung suspended under the
cow. He was granted a U.S. patent in 1892.
• The Murchland milker, along with the famous "Thistle"
milker, was extensively tested by the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland in 1898 .
• Numerous other hand pumped suction milkers were
devised in the next thirty years, with the foot operated
Mehring machine being, perhaps, the ultimate in pre-
pulsator suction milkers.
• Two cows could be milked at the same time, using this
machine, with the operator sitting on it's bench, between
the cows, and working the foot levers to provide vacuum.
• The Mehring foot power machine was still marketed well
into the 20th century and many were sold. A fine example
was recently noted at one of the Brimfield shows, priced at
$400.
Pulsator
• The pulsator was first introduced in the "Thistle"
milker, using a steam driven vacuum pump.
While the Thistle machine presented problems
of sanitation, it proved an efficient milker.
• In Hoard's Dairyman, in 1898, a reviewer of the
Thistle machine demonstrated at the Hamburg
Exposition faulted the machine for its
intermittent flow, as observed in the glass tube
leading to the milk vessel. That reviewer was Dr.
Benno Martiny, one of the most prominent dairy
scientists of the time.
• The pulsator, resulting in this intermittent flow is
what finally led to a really workable milking
machine. The USDA finally tested and gave it's
approval to a pulsator milking machine in 1898.
Late 19th century
• During the late 19th century, while many inventors were
struggling with the problems of the constant suction
milkers, others were working on a great variety of
mechanical devices to simulate hand milking. Most of these
devices incorporated rollers or fingers that intermittently
pressed on the teat, often working from top to bottom.
• Some of these devices were simple , others were composed
of hundreds of parts and worked by cranks. Such
mechanical milkers were still being patented after the turn
of the century, despite the arrival of the pulsator machines.
• Mechanical milkers could not compensate for the changing
size of the cow's teats as milking progressed, and did not
milk to completion. They also forced some milk back into the
udder.
Thanks for looking