Milking machine
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.
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