State Departments of Agriculture (continued)

Much of the early work of the Departments was concerned with disease and pest control in both crops and livestock. Also their advent coincided with the expansion of dairying in many localities, which was a particular activity in which they could assist by introducing modern technologies (e.g. Babcock fat testing and hygienic methods of controlling bacteriological contamination) to the farmers and butter and cheese factory managers. Cleanliness and freedom from bacterial contamination, were of the utmost importance in using the latest cream separators, milk coolers, and other items of dairying equipment being introduced from overseas. To disseminate this new knowledge travelling dairies were fitted out and demonstrated in the dairying districts.

The farmers and engineers, of course, had not ceased their own interest in invention and various people contributed to the world-wide attempts to develop a satisfactory milking machine, as hand milking was the most tedious job on a dairy farm. A 'Thistle' milking machine, with a pulsating vacuum, was imported into Victoria, at Lilydale, as early as 1895, and the Lawrence-Kennedy machine was introduced about 1900. Alexander Gillies, a dairy farmer at Terang, was one of the purchasers of the Lawrence-Kennedy machine and this he then proceeded to improve. In 1902-3 he patented a two-chambered teat cup, and an air admission hole at the top of the teat cup which allowed the milk to clear away efficiently. These were significant advances which are still in universal use. The improved machine became known as the LKG (Lawrence-Kennedy-Gillies) and some 300 of them were said to be in use in Australia and New Zealand by 1905. Gillies also developed a simple tubular 'claw' for connecting the milk and air tubes from the four teat cups with the receiver and pulsator, and this design has also survived until the present day.[37]

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering