615 
THE MURCHLAND MILKING MACHINE. 
I any efforts have been directed to the production of an efficient 
,ilking machine, but not one of the appliances that have been 
evised has come to a successful issue. That which is about to be 
escribed goes on the lines of others, which at one time and another 
ave been protected by patent, in so far as the aid of a vacuum, 
or causing the flow of milk, is brought into play, but in the simple 
nd easy way of distributing the motive power, and in the handy 
iiethod of its application, the apparatus now under notice is at once 
listinguished from its predecessors. 
The inventor, Mr. William Murchland, is a sanitary engineer in 
vilmarnock, Ayrshire, and until last autumn knew little about cows, 
.vhilst now he is better versed in the milk-yielding capacity of cows 
;han the majority of those who own them. He has been placed at 
considerable disadvantage in the prosecution of his experiments. 
The farm steading at which they were initiated, and are still being 
carried out, is nearly three miles from Kilmarnock, and either Mr. 
Murchland or one of his assistants has been obliged to attend morn- 
ing and evening in order to superintend the daily milking operations. 
The farm, Haining Mains by name, is on the Duke of Portland's 
estate, and is occupied by Mr. David Shaw. From the commence- 
ment, Mr. Murchland has had to contend against the hostility of the 
girls employed to milk the cows. And even when a fair start was 
made, he had to face the difficulty of having no data whatever 
with which to compare the results of his machine. No milk 
register had been kept at the place, nor could one be met with 
throughout the district— and this in the centre of the dairying 
industry in Scotland. 
Before referring to the results obtained, it may be well to first 
describe the machine, the most striking feature of which is its 
simplicity. An iron pipe (a, figs. 1 and 2), one inch in diameter, is 
carried round the cow house , in a vertical line with the shoulders of the 
animals, and sufficiently high to be out of harm's way. It communi- 
cates with a hand-pump (6, figs. 1 and 2), which is attached for the 
purpose of withdrawing the air from the pipe and forming a vacuum. 
The circular tank (c, figs. 1 and 2) communicates with a well (d), 
full of water, and its object is to serve as a regulator of the vacuum. 
From the iron pipe (a) project small connections (e, figs. 1 and 2), one 
opposite the space between every pair of animals, each connection 
being provided with a stop -cock. To one of these connections is fitted 
a length of india-rubber tubing, the other end of which is attached to 
the special milk pail (/, fig. 1). The pail, as will be noticed from 
figs. 3 and 4, is cylindrical in form, with a conical top minus the 
apex. Its opening, which is about 4 inches in diameter, is closed 
by means of a thick glass disc, which sits inside flush with the 
outer rim of the pail, resting on a thick rubber band, held in place 
by a projecting ledge of brass underneath. On one side of the neck 
of the pail is a connection (a, figs. 3 and 4), similar to that on the 
