44 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Moore, Cornell University, has shown that where cows waded 

 through filth deep enough to besmear their udders, no matter 

 how thoroughly washed these organs may be, the milk ducts 

 and the milk cisterns will contain the bacteria derived from this 

 mud and will retain them in sufficient quantity to spoil the milk 

 for perhaps two days afterwards. The stable should, therefore, 

 be located upon such a rise of ground as will permit thorough 

 drainage in the vicinity and avoid mud holes. In making a study 

 of the milk supply of Boston recently, I found in Massachusetts 

 some barns where this matter was utterly neglected. Cows had 

 to wade through small lakes of filth and the milk from that herd 

 could not be pure. 



As we cross the threshold of the stable door, we step upon 

 the floor. In all barns on the very basement, this floor may well 

 be made of cement because so easily washed and kept clean. 

 Naturally where the location of the barn and the method of 

 farming demand the basement for manure storage, the flooi; 

 m.ust be of wood. This means more care in keeping the floor 

 clean and swept. The stable floor should not be level, the plat- 

 form on which the cows stand should be raised higher than the 

 gutter upon that floor. To produce pure milk, sanitary milk, 

 the cow must be forced to keep herself clean. She must be pre- 

 vented from soiling herself with her own droppings. This 

 means that she must lie upon a platform, her droppings falling 

 into a gutter behind that platform. This gutter should not be 

 over 8 inches deep although the width may be made to suit the 

 convenience of the owner and the amount of space available in 

 the stable. 



How the cow shall be fastened is the next question. Our 

 rule in Michigan leads me to recommend the Model stall 

 described bv Governor Hoard. It is a cumbersome stall but a 

 verv convenient one for a man who has but few cows. It will 

 keep the animals spotlessly clean. So will other kinds of stalls 

 like the Bidwell stall made and patented by Porter Bidwell. 

 McGregor. la. Also a kind of stall found in the barn of the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture in this State, Hon. A. W. Gilman. 

 of Foxcroft. In this stall a fence prevented the animal from 

 stepping too far forward while the shortness of the tie prevented 

 movement too far in the rear. There was perfect freedom of 



