igo AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



the starvation period of the siege, although the adult death 

 rate was greatly increased, yet the infant death rate fell ofif 

 over a half, owing to the mothers having to nurse their chil- 

 dren, there being no cow's milk available. These infantile intes- 

 tinal infections of children, with their enormous mortality, are 

 due mainly to these intestinal bacteria from the cow, which 

 will always be present in a milk unless the above methods of 

 cleanliness be practised during milking. The substitution of a 

 pasteurized milk supply for infants in New York City has re- 

 sulted in a drop of a half in the summer infant mortality. The 

 importance of this subject is well seen when it is considered 

 that the infant death rate is over lo times the adult death rate, 

 and that at only one time of life, — at an age of over 90 years, 

 is the possibihty of death as great as for the child of under one 

 year. 



In addition to the bacteria that enter milk during the act of 

 milking, from sources other than the milker, there is oppor- 

 tunity for bacterial contamination after the milk enters the 

 milk room. Here the lactic acid bacteria can enter it from the 

 dust and air, unless the room be scrupulously clean ; or they 

 may enter it from the dishes used in handling the milk, espe- 

 cially if they have seams from which it is hard to entirely 

 dislodge the bacteria during the act of washing. The only 

 way in which we can be sure of the absence of bacteria on the 

 dishes is by sterilizing them with steam. This is too expensive 

 for the small dairy. The use of pressed metal pails and pans 

 will largely obviate this trouble. 



In the milk room also enters the same possibility of the milk 

 being contaminated with the bacteria which cause odors, tastes, 

 colors, and changes in the physical condition of the milk. These 

 have often been the cause of great trouble in the milk room. 

 If the shelves and tanks be kept scrupulously clean by the 

 liberal use of hot water and soap these bacteria can be kept out, 

 as they are foreign invaders, and not natural inhabitants about 

 all dairies. 



The use of polluted water in washing the milk utensils has 

 also been the cause of trouble in many cases. Not only can a 

 polluted water cause odors, tastes, colors, etc., in a milk ; but, 

 if it be polluted by typhoid discharges, it can become the means 

 of introducing these germs into the milk, which is later put 



