350 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



in milk, immediately disclosed the cause. They become very 

 offensive in a short time when closed up, even after being thoroughly 

 washed and scalded. The proper position for the cans is inverted 

 in a leaning position out of doors, against a fence, «vhere they 

 will have the sun, and a free circulation of air through them. Let 

 them remain there, until you want to use them, then there is no 

 doubt that they are perfectly sweet and clean. 



The milk, as fast as it is taken from the cow, is strained into 

 cans, and when a can is nearly full it is set in a spring. We take 

 as cold and fine a flowing spring as we can secure, and make a pit 

 or tank in it of such depth that the water shall rise just to the top 

 of the can, but not flow over it nor into it, and of sufficient size to 

 accommodate the dairy. It is well enough, for a dairy of forty 

 cows, to have a box or vat ten feet in length, and three feet in 

 width, and of suitable depth just to hold the cans. 



I may remark here upon the temperature of the water. It is 

 desirable that the water should be as cold as you can have spring 

 water ; 40, 45 or 50 degrees are very desirable temperatures for 

 spring water during the summer. But such a season as this has 

 been is a sad trial to these springs. Many of them have failed, 

 and in many of them the water has risen to that extreme tempera- 

 ture which is the highest that will cool milk so that it can be sent 

 to market safely. Sixty degrees Fahrenheit is as high as our ex- 

 perience will allow us to use the water in a spring. If it goes up 

 to that or above that during the day, we have to look out for bad 

 returns from the milk. But with a temperature of 60 degrees and 

 an abundant floio of loater, there is little difficulty in sending the 

 milk this distance. 



I have said that the cans when filled, are placed in the spring. 

 They are not filled full ; if I said so it was a slip of the tongue. 

 The cans draw together near the top — they are smaller — and if you 

 fill them entirely, you leave an aperture of only about six inches 

 across. It is much better not to fill them quite so high, so that 

 the whole surface of the breadth of the can, which is about a foot 

 in diameter, shall be exposed to the atmosphere. When taken out 

 to be sent to market, they are filled. Tliese cans, when placed in 

 the spring, must not be covered. The spring is covered with a 

 small house, just sufficient to shield it from the sun and rain, made 

 of any rough boards. It is well to have a tree near by, if you can, 

 to shade it, but that is not essential. The cans must be placed 



