N^EW YoKK Agriculturat. Experiment Station. 65 



GEEM CONTENT OF THE MILK. 



Bulletin 317^ of this Station discussed the effect of methods of 

 handling milking machines upon the germ content of the milk. 

 The results of this study may be summarized as follows: 



1. The immersion of the teat cups and the rubber parts of the 

 machine in a 10 per ct. solution of salt (i^aCl) between milk- 

 ings is important. ^^Tien daily washing and scalding of these 

 parts was contrasted with washing them once per week and 

 keeping them in a salt solution during the remainder of the time 

 this latter treatment reduced the average germ content of the milk 

 from over 180,000 germs per cc. to less than 20,000 per cc. 



2. The air filters are also important in proportion as they re- 

 move the germ-laden dust from the air which enters the pail dur- 

 ing the milking process. On the later types of machines used 

 these filters were large enough to be quite efficient and th,e germ 

 content of the milk, when the tubes had been held in brine and 

 the filter cups had been properly filled with cotton, was almost 

 always markedly below 10,000 per cc. 



3. Dropping the teat cups on the floor during the milking 

 process or any gross carelessness in handling the machine caused 

 a surprising rise in the germ content of the milk. Occasionally 

 very high counts were obtained where no definite cause could be 

 found. 



4. The point which is emphasized by these studies is that the 

 quality of milk obtained from a milking machine depends 

 primarily upon the intelligent care which is exercised in the 

 manipulation of the machine. 



While immersion in a solution of common salt supplemented by 

 a careful hand washing of the teat cups and rubber tubes once per 

 week was found to be both cheaper and more efficient than daily 

 hand washing, the question of what is the best solution for pro- 

 tecting the rubber parts is still unsettled. This problem is being 

 studied and the results will be reported later. 



1 See footnote 1, p. 58. 



3 



