SECRETARY'S REPORT. 95 



where it had " turned " and thus formed a nidus for loppered parti- 

 cles which acted upon the new milk and changed it in so short a 

 time ?" 



The danger that the ferment may find a permanent lodgment in 

 wooden vessels, together with the great amount of labor which 

 their use involves, should cause their banishment from the cheese 

 dairy in all cases where metallic ones can be substituted to advan- 

 tage. If wooden utensils must be used, great caution should be 

 had not to employ any which have been recently painted. On this 

 point Mr. Willard remarks ; " Sometimes when the dairyman has 

 been using newly painted pails and tubs he will find black specks 

 and spots on the rind of many of his cheeses, and should he cut 

 them, the same peculiarity is presented throughout the cheese. 

 This is poison cheese, more or less dangerous to the consumer, and 

 justly feared and avoided in market ; for although much of it may 

 possibly be eaten in small quantities without producing any serious 

 sickness, yet the chances are that some of the cheese is very pois- 

 onous Now the dairyman often, and perhaps generally, is igno- 

 rant of the cause and innocent of any intent to poison, and he 

 learns with amazement that his cheese has been thrown out of 

 market, or sent back to him, or that some family has been poisoned 

 by eating it ; but such is the fact, and the result has been brought 

 about by carelessly using newly painted utensils. The milk and 

 whey have extracted poison from the lead and deposited it in the 

 cheese. The fact has been well substantiated from numerous cases 

 where the matter has been fully traced out. When utensils are to 

 be newly painted it should be done at a time when they will not 

 be needed for three months ; and before painting they should have 

 been thoroughly scrubbed with strong lye, in order that all the 

 old flaky paint be removed and a good clean surface presented for 

 the new paint. After the new paint has become thoroughly dried 

 and hard the tubs and pails should be frequently soaked with water 

 and whey until there is no smell or taste from the new paint." 



The cleanliness referred to should include not only Hie utensils 

 but every part of the premises. Milk absorbs odors of any kind 

 with such facility that much caution needs to be exercised lest it 

 suffer injury by exposure to offensive effluvia. 



Let milk be ever so rich, it may be spoiled before, as well as 

 after rennet is added. 



Having secured cleanliness in all the appurtenances belonging 



