• SOME UNESSENTIAL DAIRY REFINEMENTS * 



F. H. HALL. 



Strict economy is necessary at every point if 



Economy present-day milk production is to show profits. 



essential in Advances in the price of purchased feeds and of 



dairying labor have been accompanied in New York State, 



during several recent years, by short pastures 



and lessened yields of home-grown feeds due to droughts and other 



unfavorable weather conditions. At the same time, those having 



oversight of the large milk markets have demanded improvement 



in the sanitary quality of the milk that can only be secured by direct 



expenditure of money and by added labor in stable and milk room. 



We must bear as best we may the calamitous vicissitudes of the 



weather, for we can usually do little to prevent or to replace the 



losses due to severe drought or untimely frost, but we may meet the 



demands for clean milk with much less labor than at first seemed 



possible. In large dairies, use of the milking machine may reduce 



the labor cost of milking while the germ content of machine-drawn 



milk — the measure of cleanliness in its production — may be held at 



a low point if a few simple, inexpensive precautions are observed. 



In smaller dairies where use of the machine is not practicable, the 



substitution of the small-top pail for the type in common use will 



shut out one-half or more of the dirt and germs that make milk 



impure without noticeably increasing outlay or labor. 



Care in handling the milking machine and use of the small-top 

 pail are practical sanitary measures which return marked results for 

 the money and time expended. 



But boards of health and similar inspection 



Some officials include many other features in the require- 



resultless ments or recommendations for securing milk of 



requirements good sanitary quality. These requirements have 



been based on general principles rather than 



actual measurements, for when the need for some regulation of the 



* Reprint of Popular Edition of Bulletin Ko. 365; see p. 51 for Bulletin. 



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