20 



HISTORY AND 



article, that, for purity, durability and economy, is hitherto un- 

 equalled in the annals of the milk trade/ 



"One quart, by the addition of water, makes two and a half 

 quarts, equal of cream, five quarts rich milk and seven quarts 

 good milk. 



"For sale at 173 Canal Street, or delivered at dwellings in 

 New York or Brooklyn at 25 cents per quart." 



Development of Industry. The beginning was small, the 

 process crude and the product imperfect. Not until the stren- 

 uous years of the war of Secession did the value and useful- 

 ness of condensed milk as a com- 

 modity become fully recognized. 

 During the Civil War there was 

 a great demand for this product 

 and from that time on the indus- 

 try grew with great rapidity. 



The first factory was operated 

 by Gail Borden in Wolcottville, 

 Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 

 the summer of 1856, but disap- 

 pointed in not obtaining means, 

 nothing was accomplished. A sec- 

 ond attempt was made at Burr- 



ville, five miles distant, in 1857. by a company consisting of the 

 owners of the patent. A small quantity of milk was here suc- 

 cessfully condensed and its introduction into New York began. 

 Although admitted by all to be superior to any before made, it 

 was slow in meeting with sales proportional in magnitude to 

 the expenses incurred. Yielding to the monetary revulsion of 

 that year the company suspended operations, leaving Mr. Bor- 

 den liable for bills drawn, on which he was sued. 



It was not until February, 1858, when Mr. Borden (with the 

 other owners of the patent) associated himself with Jeremiah Mil- 

 bank, Esq., who advanced money to revive the business, that he 

 could be said to enjoy adequate means to develop his invention 

 and at which time the New York Condensed Milk Company was 

 formed. Abandoning Burrville, the new company established 

 work on a more extensive scale in Wassaic, Duchess county, 

 New York, in 1860. In 1865, extensive works were erected at 



Pifif. 3. 



The first condensed milk factory 

 In America, Wolcottville, Conn. 



