34- AGRICUIvTURE OP MAINE. 



easily carried out. May I say that this has been repeatedly 

 demonstrated on many farms and can be on yours? 



Milk as it comes from the healthy cow is both clean and safe, 

 but it is easily contaminated. This contamination may be meas- 

 ured by the number and kinds of bficteria the milk contains. 

 Bacteria are very tiny one-celled plants, too small to be seen 

 with the naked eye. They are found everywhere in nature and 

 play a most important part in the life of man. It has been said 

 that without them we cannot live, and again, without them we 

 cannot die. This divides them into two distinct groups. The 

 latter merits our careful attention, so that we may curtail as 

 much as possible their efforts and thus promote the welfare and 

 happiness of our people. 



In considering this matter let us deal only with those factors 

 which have both a direct and important part in the purity and 

 keeping quality of milk. In speaking it is well to bear in mind 

 that it is naturally a pure product. 



\\'ith healthy cows perhaps the most important foreign matter 

 to be kept out of milk is manure; certainly the types of bacteria 

 that one may unquestionably find there are not desirable inhab- 

 itants of milk. You are all aware of the fact that the excrement 

 of the cow contains that part of the food which her body does 

 not assimilate and the intestinal tract may harbor enormous 

 numbers of objectionable bacteria. The cow, the barn and the 

 stable yard should be clean. Clean bedding should be provided. 

 These little precautions should materially reduce contamination 

 from these sources. Loose hairs from the flank and udder of 

 the cows also often get into the milk. Washing these parts or 

 going over them with a wet cloth just previous to milking is of 

 much assistance in curtailing the contamination from these 

 sources. The feeding of dry corn stover or grain before or 

 during milking is also a channel by which dust may find its way 

 into milk. 



Perhaps the covered milk pail is the best single device to 

 assist you in reducing to a minimum the foreign matter which 

 often finds its way into milk. Needless to say, the hands of 

 the milker and all utensils used to hold, strain, or convey milk 

 should at all times be kept thoroughly clean. I believe also that 

 there is more reason for keeping the animal which produces 

 food for ourselves and our babies clean, than to spend extra 



