176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



from the cows' bags, and is handled in its normal condition. Noth- 

 ing is taken from it, and no addition of an}^ sort is made to it. A 

 thorough setting forth of the nature of milk is comprised in the 

 following extract, taken from an address of Prof. J. P. Sheldon, the 

 eminent English authority' on modern dairy topics : 



"As a liquid containing a good deal of the element nitrogen, it is liable to early 

 decay, or, in other words, to changes in its chemical and mechanical condition. The 

 temperature it has when milked from tho cow is favorable to its decomposition. 

 Above or below blood heat its decay is more or less retarded; and by passing a pure 

 volume of oxygon through it it is made to keep tho longer. Left alone it is a suicidal 

 sort of thing, constantly inviting its own destruction, so to speak. It drinks in 

 greedilj' foul odors from the atmosphere, as one may say, and provides just the food 

 that bacteria delight in. It is determined not to remain in its original form, for it 

 begins to throw off its cream at once on coming to rest. To tho chemist it is known 

 as a " transition compound," seeking fresh conditions and combinations. It is con- 

 genial food to the fermentive germs that float in the air, and contains within itself a 

 principle that is an aid to digestion, which is only another word for decomposition. 

 Such being the case, milk requires intelligent treatment if we want it to remain as it 

 is when we get it." 



For cheese making it must remain as it is when we get it, with 

 the single variation that the animal heat is at once taken out. The 

 full proportion of cream, with its exquisite volatile oils, must be 

 retained, and all possible pains taken to keep it from the foul odors 

 it drinks in so greedily. Intelligent treatment is the exact expres- 

 sion to properly characterize the needs around milk from first to 

 last. That kind of treatment which recognizes the transition 

 nature of milk, comprehends the needed methods of handling, and 

 then constantly practices them. 



So much has been written about cleanliness that its constant 

 iteration is almost tiresome. Still there is no other resource, but 

 " precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line," to meet the 

 exigencies of the case. If we hope to realize good flavors in the 

 products, we must absolutely cut oif the sources of bad flavors. 

 Intelligent judgment, which clearl}' grasps the end from the begin- 

 ning, must be exercised at all points. The fact that milk will not 

 absorb odors before it cools to the temperature of the surrounding 

 air, deludes too many into the practice of uncleanly ways. If the 

 cows are milked in a close tie-up, which reeks with the fumes of 

 their exhalations and excrements, how can the milk be found pure 

 and fine flavored? The owner, and attendants go in to milk and 

 place the pails and strainers, perhaps, on the ledge behind the cows. 

 These dishes immediately condense upon themselves the foul vapors, 



