Dairying Heritage // Stoop-less milking pioneers

[Alan SHARP]

Are you from a late 1950’s early 1960’s pioneering dairying family who lead the move into raised platform “stoop-less” milking ?

Time has almost run out to get first hand HERITAGE accounts from those pioneers, who made unprecedented gains from their innovation, which benefited the whole industry.

On April 19, 2009, Susanna Wade MARTINS, Editor of the British Agricultural History Society bulletin RURAL HISTORY TODAY advised me that:-
“Many thanks for your draft article for ‘Rural History Today’ which seems eminently suitable. For your information the first herringhbone parlour to be installed in Scotland, was at Newton of Stracathro in Agus in 1961”.

I was invited to supply the copy about my SPECIALIST research, but so far that June 2009 issue, is yet to appear on their web pages http://www.bahs.org.uk, and I have been unable to find anyone with first hand accounts from the Aberdeen University research farm in Angus, or indeed others throughout the UK and Europe. Unfortunately several goes at trying to get a foot in the door at READING UNIVERSITY or their MUSEUM, have also been unsuccessful, even though I have the backing of the NZ National Dairy Museum, Massey University, and former NZ Ruakura Research Station staff. (READING is acknowledged as a World Centre for Dairy research.)

For those interested, and who may be able to further our knowledge base, quoted where with, is a couple of paragraphs from that BAHS article:-

/// .... The De-Laval - Alfa-Laval group of companies credit New Zealander, Norman John DAYSH, with their successful launch, of a ‘reliable’ milking machine in 1917 and, ever since, have continued to be at the forefront of advances. By 1934, they were associated, in the U.S.A with Cyrus HAPGOOD; and the Walker-Gordon Laboratory Inc., was associated with Kraemer KLUKS; in patenting competing large, 48 bail, rotary milking parlours (US 1.959.716 & US 1.968.564). In the U.K. Alfa-Laval and Neel CORDEROY, were patenting a design that was to become known, as a Tandem. (1934 UK 438.432). Various patents with Zig–Zag design bails, then also appeared.

While experimentation with milking equipment, and design, was ongoing, and numerous patents were successfully filed, it was after WWII before conditions afforded pioneers opportunities, to become really innovative and adventurous, on a scale never seen before. Instead of the odd, unique milking parlour appearing in a district, hundreds started appearing.

Down under interest stirred, big time, with the simultaneous introduction into the July 1952 – May 1953 milking season, of the: - (MACARTHUR-ONSLOW) ‘Camden Park Estate Rotolactor’ Menangle, New South Wales, Australia; the (PREVOST) ‘NZ Department of Agriculture Tandem’ at Manurewa, Auckland NZ; and the (SHARP) ‘Angle Park / Herringbone’ at Gordonton, Waikato, NZ..........................

DAIRYING HERITAGE RESEARCH ///

Put me in touch with your family. and we will do what we can to include them in the big picture we are putting together.
P.S. My late Father 1919 – 2004 was R. J. SHARP ONZM (For services to Dairying.)

Alan SHARP. New Zealand. Herringbone AT hnpl . net

EDIT: Last night September 10th 2010 I attended the annual dinner of the NZ National Fieldays Society. There Colin GORDGE, a former President, enquired upon the progress of the dairying research, and I restated as above, only to find today, that the B.A.H.S has updated their web page, and the article is now on line. Issue 17 - July 2009 RURAL HISTORY TODAY - Notes & Queries - page 8. www.bahs.org.uk/RHT%20issue%2017%204WEB.pdf

Alan SHARP.

[Currie]

Hello Alan,

I hope you have some luck in contacting Scottish pioneers of stoop-less milking.

For anyone interested here’s a publication by the DeLaval Company, there’s reference to the work of Mr. Daysh on page 48. http://www.delaval.com.ar/NR/rdonlyres/ ... eLaval.pdf There’s also some interesting statistics.

Cows milked by machine in the early 1940s.
New Zealand 90%
Sweden 35%
Great Britain 30%
United States 10%
Denmark 10%
Holland 3%
Australia 2%
Germany 0.2%
France 0.2%
The number was so high in New Zealand because only producers with large herds could afford to buy machines, and large herds were over-represented in New Zealand.

I’ve seen a few pictures of the Rotolactor, which “was a 100 ton merry-go-round that washed, dried, and milked cows during 12½ minute rides”. It was interesting to see how the cows passively lined up for their ride on the merry-go-round. Maybe they were thinking of the other place they would be lined up at if they raised any objections.

Here’s a cow that wasn’t prepared to take it any longer and became a Revolutionary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzhTHWUGw0

All the best,
Alan

[Montrose Budie]

I doubt if I can contribute anything to this thread.

Just to note that in the 1970s and 1980s, i worked for Alfa-Laval (in the UK and Sweden) for 10 years ........

mb

[Alan SHARP]

Greetings gentlemen and thanks for posting the links. De-Laval were interesting and just as hard to get past the front desk as the leading Dairy Institutions are. However after De-Laval NZ asked a favour of me, and I pointed out an email had got lost in "the system" at De-Laval HQ several years before, the NZ man fired off an email to the Directors' and the next day I found myself cc'ed in on an email exchange between Director's and their IT patent specialists in both Europe and America.

They were generous with their time and suggections, even sending me an out of print book on the history of de-Laval and the history of the milking machine. They gave me 56 character codes to allow me access to some of their patents, and with their, and other specialized help, I have now down loaded or viewed over 200 patents, marking the evolution of mechanical milking and milking systems.

The big issue for me now is to find the late 1950's early 1960's pioneers and get their 1st hand accounts before they all pass on. Sadly in the last ten years that I have been researching this subject, many including my Father have passed on.

This is TalkingScot so I won't go on, but I have as many gaps in Australia, as I have in Europe and the old USSR especially the Moscow and Siberian regions.

Alan SHARP.

[Montrose Budie]

Hi Alan

Quite a fascinating thread.

I was on the industrial side of Alfa-Laval, plate heat exchangers and other types of heat exchangers, and high speed centrifugal separators and other separation equipment, both still playing a major role in the dairy industry today, - Gustav de Laval's seminal invention was the centrifugal separator for the separation of cream from milk.

On a visit to Alfa-Laval's HQ in Tumba just to the south of Stockholm, it was certain at some point that a visit to the A-L farm at Hamra would be involved, but I certainly never heard a Swede admitting that the launch of a 'reliable’ milking machine took place in Aotearoa in 1917!

NZ has most certainly continued to be in the forefront of dairy industry technology, not least the application of ultrafiltration to the recovery of protein from casein whey, on the intitiative of NZDRI in Palmerston North and the NZDB in Wellington ........

Another company that I worked for between spells with A-L UK and A-L Sweden, was the leading competitor to the Danish company who took the contracts for the first two large UF plants in NZ, - my company lost out on both, - one was TATV, but I can't for the life of me recall the other .......... then a US company, Abcor, took the third but I don't think that it was ever commissioned.

During my time with A-L in Sweden I hold the distinction of having sold the only every reverse osmosis plant, to NZ, for the production of alcohol-free Kiwi fruit wine !!


Unfortunately my A-L contacts are now over 25 years old, but I will email one well connected person, as she may be able to come up with contact names on the "farm", i.e. milking side, of the business, who are still alive and kicking, so to write.

Please feel free to PM me.


For anyone getting confused over company names, - the original name of the companies arising from Gustav de Laval's activities in Sweden was "de Laval", but "Alfa-Laval" was mostly substituted in the post WWII years, but not every country took this up.

mb

[Alan SHARP]

Hi mb,

Thanks for your interest, and looking up old mates on my behalf.

I am mindful that this is TS, not Talking Milking Machines. However as some of you are expressing interest, the book that director Ole LIND went out of his way to send to NZ was:-

The Development of the Milking Machine - A Historical Review - by Tage JANSSON Sub-titled; A historical review of the development of the milking machine, with special reference to technical advances and improvements, by Tage JANSSON.
February 1973 by Alfa-Laval AB, Tumba, Sweden. 135 pages. A very comprehensive book, that does not carry a library number, so I an unsure how public the issue was, but all distribution centers recieved a copy.

By default the book also spells out the various names and time zones of same, that products were manufactured / distributed by and or sold under. Principally De-Laval and Alfa-Laval who hold/held most of the patents but there were other associated companies and mergers.

For ex employees interest, the Director's and Heads of Department who helped me with suggestions in the exchange of emails were:- Ole LIND, Tom HEMLING, Fredrik PERSSON, Klaus SCHULTE and a member of their patent department IPO Urban Sjodahl.

Regards,

Alan SHARP.

[Alan SHARP]

Greetings again.

The British Agricultural History Society, news letter - Rural History Today, issue 17, July 2009, is now on line, as their site has been up dated. See my EDIT on the original post for the link.

Alan SHARP.