18 



HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



same time as the factory system of the butter and cheese indus- 

 try; although, for many years before the invention of a suc- 

 cessful process of condensing milk, methods had been sought 

 to preserve milk. 



The American, Gail Borden, the inventor of- the manufac- 

 ture of condensed milk, is said to have experimented some ten 

 years before he finally decided that a semi-fluid state, produced 



rig-. 2. Gail Borden 



by evaporation in vacuo, was the best form of preservation. 

 He first applied for a patent in 1853, but it was not until three 

 years later that the Patent Office appreciated the originality 

 and value of his claim sufficiently to grant him a patent. In 

 August, 1856, he was awarded a patent on his process, both by 

 the United States and by England. 



In his application Mr. Bordon says : 1 



"I am aware that sugar, and various extracts, have been and 



1 "A Brief Sketch of Gail Borden," by S. L. Goodale, Secretary Maine State 

 Board of Agriculture, 1872. Courtesy of Borden's Condensed Milk Company. 



