New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 75 



there is little protective covering to retain the dirt and bits of 

 dead skin which are constantly breaking loose. They accord- 

 ingly fall into the milk carrying their quota of germs. 



HAND AND MACHINE CLEANING OF COWS. 



The removal of dirt by the vacuum process is one of the newer 

 ideas regarding sanitation which has been successfully applied in 

 the household and in many departments of business. Since the 

 milking machine (See Bulletin 317) provides the vacuum pump and 

 necessary connection in the stable it is quite natural that a vacuum 

 cleaning apparatus, adapted to the cleaning of cows, should be 

 developed. Such a machine is in actual use in a number of dairies 

 and in the " Methods and Standards for the Production and Dis- 

 tribution of Certified Milk" 9 as adopted by the American Associa- 

 tion of Medical Milk Commissions in 1912, Section 14, under the 

 heading of Hygiene of the Dairy, reads as follows: " Cleaning 

 of cows. Each cow in the herd shall be groomed daily, and no manure, 

 mud, or filth shall be allowed to remain upon her during milking; 

 for cleaning, a vacuum apparatus is recommended." 



So far as the authors are aware there is but one yacuum cow 

 cleaner 10 on the market and this consists of a 40-quart can pro- 

 vided with a hose connection on the cover by means of which it 

 may be connected with the vacuum pump. A cloth bag is fastened 

 to the under side of the can cover and a hose connection at the 

 side of the can permits the attachment of the tool to be applied to 

 the coat of the cow. This tool is a modified form of curry comb so 

 arranged that when the vacuum is applied the dirt is removed from 

 the coat of the cow and collected in the bottom of the can. 



After this machine had been in the barn for some months and the 

 men had become familiar with its use, its effect upon the germ 

 content of the milk was compared with that of ordinary hand clean- 

 ing. Four cows were employed in this test and since the vacuum 

 cleaner is ordinarily employed in certified dairies where the cows 

 are clipped, the udders, flanks and surrounding parts of these cows 

 were clipped. Each day two cows were cleaned by machine and 

 two by hand, each cow being cleaned by machine and by hand 



9 Methods and standards for the production and distribution of "certified milk". U. S. Public 

 Health and Marine-Hospital Service. Reprint 85. 1912. 

 i» Manfg. by D. H. Burrell & Co., Little Falls, N. Y. 



