DAIRY mee;ting. 147 



starting point in the production of a clean and bacterially good 

 milk. 



It is also well known that bad air in the stable or in the milk 

 room will often cause odors and tastes in milk. Along with 

 our healthy cow must go a well ventilated stable and milk room, 

 if we are to obtain a milk that is satisfactory, entirely aside 

 from a milk that is bacterially satisfactory. 



But the greatest source both of trouble and danger in milk 

 comes from the presence in it of bacteria that have been intro- 

 duced after the milk has left the cow. We all accept the fact 

 that souring of milk is caused by the multiplication of acid 

 forming bacteria, that gain entrance to it after it has left the 

 cow. This is a source of much financial loss to the producer 

 and consumer. That it can be avoided is well shown by the fact 

 that we have recorded instances of milk keeping for from three 

 to seven weeks, when the only precautions taken with it have 

 been to see that it was clean, bacterially, when it entered the 

 milking pails, and that it was kept cool afterwards, so as to 

 prevent any multiplication of the few bacteria wdiose introduc- 

 tion could not be avoided. In like manner cream has been kept 

 sweet for periods as long as four weeks, with only like pre- 

 cautions. 



How do bacteria enter a milk from a healthy cow? They 

 enter in innumerable ways, but the following are the most im- 

 portant. They enter the milk during the milking process with 

 the solid dirt and dust, that fall from the body of the cow, from 

 the hands and persons of the milkers, from the dust of the 

 stables, and from the dirt, whether physical or bacterial, that 

 may be contained in the pails in which the milk is collected. 

 They enter the milk during the process of handling, in the milk 

 room or in the distributing station, from the vessels used with 

 the milk, from the persons of those who handle the milk, from 

 the dust in the air, from the flies in the room, and from dirt 

 falling from the upper shelves. The more times the milk is 

 handled, the more the chances of contamination of the milk. 

 Briefly, dirt from cow. air, attendants and flies constitute the 

 sources of danger to milk. 



Ever}^ particle of dust is loaded with bacteria, whether this be 

 the dust of the stable, milk room, or the open air. The hair 

 and dandruff of the cow are covered with manure, every finest 

 particle of which is loaded with intestinal bacteria from the 



