FARM SANITATION. 23 



of a supply of pure, clean milk. Our national government is 

 meeting the question of food adulterations, so far as it can, in 

 cases of interstate commerce. There are two factors which 

 control, very materially, the keeping qualities of milk. The first 

 is absolute cleanliness from the moment the' milk is drawn from 

 a healthy cow, until it is delivered into the hands of the con- 

 sumer. The second is the temperature at which the milk is kept 

 during this period. If these conditions are complied with, it 

 is certainly possible to insure a perfect milk supply. 



In order to do this we have three things to consider — the farm 

 where the milk is produced, the transportation to the consumer, 

 and the household in which the milk is kept before it is used. 

 In some instances there are other considerations, when the milk 

 is not delivered direct to the consumer. The milk must be from 

 cows not less than fifteen days before calving, nor five days 

 after. The cows must be healthy animals. Milk must not be 

 adulterated by water, nor any substance whatever. It must be 

 kept at fifty degrees, or below. 



The first thing to consider at the farm is the condition of the 

 barn. Dirt and dust, usually so abundant in an average barn, 

 readily get into the stream of milk or pail, and form a fruitful 

 source of bacterial contamination. The common sources of dirt 

 from the hay loft overhead, cobwebs on walls and ceilings, loose 

 boards,* dirty windows, floors of dirt, unclean manure gutters, 

 and dust that accumulates on all things in a barn — this kind of 

 a barn will fill the milk with a very large number of bacteria. 

 A cow milked in such a bam as this showed 120,000 bacteria to 

 each cubic centimeter, but when milked in a pasture in open air, 

 26,000. 



The second thing to consider is the condition of the cow. 

 Much dirt that gets into milk comes directly from the cow. In 

 milking the udder is pulled down, which loosens dandruff, hairs 

 and dirt from all the parts. In cleaning a cow for milking, the 

 folds between the udder and the flanks, and dirt on tail, should 

 receive particular attention. 



In order to get pure milk the cow should not only have a clean 

 barn, proper food and care, including carding to make the skin 

 healthy, but she should have a well Hghted stable, and have at 

 least 1,000 cubic feet of air space and one hundred square feef 

 of floor surface for each cow. 



