The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-10
MAGAZINES.
a MILKING MACHINE.
Ingenious Device of a Scotchm an to Dc
Away with Milkmaids.

away Win
From the London Times.
Three or four miles pleasant drive from
the town of Kilmarnock, one of the centers
of the dairying interests of Ayrshire, is the
dairy farm Of Haining Mains, Oh the estate
of the Duke Of Portland. Here, for some
months past, q new milking machine. in
vented by William Murchland, sanitary
engineer of Kilmarnock, has been in opera
ton, the tenant of the farm, David Shaw,
having afforded every facility.
There is nothing connected with the ordi :
nary work of dairy farm which is more
troublesome and more laborious than tn e
operation OF milking COWS by hand. On a
cold winter morning, when each operator
has TO milk dozen or more cows by the
dim light OF q lantern, the work is especially
severe. Moreover the necessity often arises
of finding employment during the day for
more hands, perhaps. than would be other
wise retained in order to secure a sufficient
number for milking, as this operation has
usually to be completed within a certain
time. Many schemes have been devised for
the automatic or mechanical milking OF
cows.
One after another they have been tried
found wanting and discarded, In some of
them the barbarous practieeoof forcing
tube into the teat of the COW has been re-
sorted to, with the result that the animals
| subjected to this treatment have been per-
manently injured, even to the extent of
being unable to retain their milk. Ia most
of them the milk has been Withdrawn on
the pneumatic principle by reducing the
pressure within the milk-bag below that of
the normal atmospheric pressure outside it
This, indeed, is the principle underlying the
Murchland milking machine, with, how
ever, the difference that, whereas in all
previous attempts the apparatus has only
been applicable TO one COW at time, by
means of the new machine any number of
cows can be MIXED simultaneously.
The apparatus, as installed at Haining
Mains, is of very simple character. An or
binary iron pipe, one inch In diameter, is
carried round the COW house at a conve aient
hight above the shoulders of the cows. It
communicates with hand pump, whereby
the air is drawn from the pipe, circular
tank connected with q shallow we'll of water
serving as a regulator of the vacuum.
From the iron pipe project connections, one
opposite the space between every pair of
animals, each connection being furnished
with stop-locx. To any oae of these con-
nections is fitted length of india rubber
tubing, the other end being attached to a
nozzle near the top of the milk pail which
is of special construction. The pail is cylin-
drical in form, with a truncated co.ical
top. Its opening, which is four inches wide,
is closed by means OF a thick glass disk,
which rests inside flush with the outer rim
of the pail, supported by a thick rubber
band, held in pace by a projecting ledge
underneath.
On one side of the shoulder of the pail is
the nozzle which has BEEN refe-re to, and
on the opposite side are four similar n3zzles,
all of which are like the small connections
upon the iron pipe. The solitary nozzle is
for attachm mt to the long flexible tube
from the iron; the other four are for short
lenghths Of tubing connected in their turn
with specially constructed teIt cups, each
of which receives teat of the COW under
operation. The cups, like the bail, are
made Of timed iron, a1d each one Is pro-
vided with tap or stop-cock. The milk
pail has, 10 addition to its handle, couple
of hooks, by means OF which it is suspended
a little in front of the cows udder, a broad
band Of girthing being laid across the AMI
mails loins for the purpose.
The modus operandi is very simple.
When all is ready the pump is worked by
lad, and the air is thus exhausted from the
iron pipe. Then pail, with its teat cups
attached, is ABUSED under the COW, the
long tube is Joined to one of the connections
overhead, the stopcock is opened, aud
partial vacuum is established within the
pail Next one of the teat cups is moist
ened and placed 50 as to embrace teat; the
stopcock of the cup is then opened, the teat
Is thus brought under the influence of the
vacuum, asd the greater external atmos-
pheric pressure at once causes the milk to
begin to flow. After all four teat cups
have thus been adjusted four jets Of
milk can be seen flowing into the can i'm
mediately he1eath the glass cover. In from
eight to ten minutes the COW is milked
dry, and the stopcock Of the connection