3-008-844 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The patent cow-milker in the International Exhibition, 1862. 'A machine has been invented for milking cows, and is now on exhibition in the United States' department of the International Exhibition. The teats of the cow just drop into four elastic tubes placed under them, in communication with an exhaust apparatus and a reservoir. The quick movement of two handles creates a vacuum, and the udder is instantaneously emptied of its contents in four continuous streams. While the operation is distressingly practical, it is very cleanly, and, we believe, agreeable to the cow. The milk is withdrawn at the rate of a gallon a minute. The patent of the "cow-milker" has been sold to Watkins and Keene, of Birmingham, for £5000, and a royalty to the original inventors; and it is stated that the firm have already received orders sufficient to cover the expenses of the patent, and that the machine is rapidly being adopted by all the great dairymen throughout the country. A prize medal and honourable mention have been awarded to the patent milking apparatus'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.