Dr. Gustav DeLaval (Inventor).

Dr. Gustav DeLaval.

(Inventor)

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Before we go too deep into the dairy and milking parlour description of the model farm, I think you should know a little of the Swedish Inventor, Dr Gustav DeLaval, whose pioneering in the dairy industry is still very much in use in the modern-day dairy farm.

Born in Orsa in Dalarma on the 9th of May 1845. He was enrolled in the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1863 and graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1866, after which he matriculated at Upsala University in 1867, completing his doctorate in Chemistry in 1872.

He went on to invent several things including a nozzle to increase a steam jet to supersonic speed, which today has been incorporated into the modern rocket engine.

He then turned his attention to a centrifugal oil and water separator, which proved to be highly successful. This is then led to the thought of separating cream from milk, a system that he patented in 1894. He was now faced with the problem of developing a machine to mechanically milk cow's and speed up production. He worked on several prototypes, none of which were successful. Others tried and offered their ideas to him, but they too failed the test. It was not until five years after his death in February 1913, that his research and development group came up with a model on which todays milking machines are based. The earlier versions of which were incorporated into the White Place Farm cowsheds before the arrival of the new milking parlour in 1937.