No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURIC. 571 



When practicable, expose them finally to direct sunlight for a few 

 hours. Strainers should be washed iramediatelv after using, clean- 

 ing first in tepid water, following with hot water and soap and finally 

 W'ith hot w^ater and steaming or boiling. 



(5.) Time of Feeding. — Foods having marked odors should be fed 

 only after milking and then at once, and none should be left in the 

 stable. Dry fodders, which furnish dust, should likewise be fed after 

 milking. 



(6.) Diseased Milk. — The milk of diseased animals should not be 

 used nor that of animals fresh in milk before the ninth milking. 



(7.) Contagious Diseases. — Xo person suffering from, or recovering 

 f!*om. a contagious disease, nor any person that has anything to do 

 in caring for such a person should be allowed to have any contact 

 with the dairv. 



(8.) Kemoval from Stable and Subsequent Treatment. — As soon as 

 each cow^ is milked, the milk should be removed from the stable to 

 some room free from all bad odors and with cleanly surroundings. 

 The milk should be at once strained through a brass-wire strainer, 

 having not less than fifty meshes to the inch, and also through three 

 or four thicknesses of cheese-cloth. Still more effective results in 

 straining can be secured by the use of absorbent cotton, though its 

 expense makes its use impracticable under ordinary conditions. 

 After ettraining, cool to 50 degrees F.. or below. 



By observing precautions like these, it is easilj' possible to reduce 

 the number of bacteria in the milk to such an extent that the milk 

 will keep eighteen to twenty-four hours longer than ordinary milk. 

 Precautions like the foregoing for keeping bacteria out of milk are 

 practicable, where one owns a herd of cows and has all conditions 

 under personal control; but it is another matter when it comes 

 to making some one else observe them. So, when milk is not under 

 one's control, the next best thing is to prevent the growth of the 

 bacteria already in the milk, and this may be done by use of low 

 temperature in keeping the milk or by heating the milk first and 

 then cooling. One method prevents or delays the grow^th of bac- 

 teria without destroying the germs themselves, w^hile the other de- 

 stroys most of the bacteria. 



14. Preventing or Delaying Growth of Bacteria in Milk. 



Whether precautions have been taken or not to keep large numbers 

 of bacteria from getting into milk, it is necessary, as soon as milk 

 is drawn, to cool it quickly, and the lower the temperature, the 

 better. At temperatures below^ 50 degrees F., the rapidity of growth 

 of the bacteria is greatly lessened. In connection with the cooling 



