No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 565 



is the certified milk tliat won tlie first prize. Here is the market milk 

 that won first place; and here is the market cream that won first 

 place. 



Now, the keynote of all these meetings this week has been (piality. 

 Milk is one thing in which the quality has been neglected for a long 

 time. And what do we mean by quality in milk? Some people may 

 say, the amount of cream or butter fat — I have heard people passing 

 the exhibits up stairs and looking at the cream around the top of 

 the bottles say ''That is fine milk. Look at the cream on it." We 

 know now there is a great deal more meant by the word "quality" 

 as applied to milk than mere composition. We know that cleanliness 

 is of prime importance. There are two reasons: first the sentimental 

 standpoint, and second what I call the economical standpoint. The 

 sentimental stand point has to do with the danger from disease from 

 dirty milk, but I won't touch on that because our time is so limited 

 to-night. 



The samples are scored on a basis of one hundred points: 35 

 points are allowed for bacteria; 25 points for flavor and odor; 10 

 l>oiuts for fat; 10 points for solids not fat; 10 points for freedom from 

 possible sediment in the bottom of the bottle; 5 points for acidity, 

 and 5 points for appearance of bottle and cap. I just want to run 

 over briefly what goes to make these points. First of all the flavor 

 and odor are influenced by several things. They are influenced 

 by bacteria. I have a sample here which any of you that are in- 

 terested can smell after this meeting is over. That has a very putri- 

 factive odor. Here is another sample. This has a clean sour odor. 

 This has a different class of bacteria working in the milk and bac- 

 teria govern the different odors Itefore the milk is sterilized. This 

 one here has a smell that comes through feeding bad silage or feed- 

 ing at the wrong rime or way. The time to feed silage or any other 

 feed of that kind is right after milking and then the odor has time 

 to be distributed before the next milking. Care should be taken 

 when the feeding silage to sweep u]» all that is scattered about after 

 the cows are through and never leave any silage about the barn. 



The <iuesti(m of bacteria, — what are these bacteria? They are little 

 spores and they fall into the ])ail and they need warmth and food 

 and moisture for their growth. Thev find all these elements in 

 milk and as soon as they fall in there from the dust on the cow's 

 body they start to grow and multiply, some of them once in every 

 few hours and unless the milk is cooled down immediately the work 

 goes on energetically and very soon reached enormous proportions. 

 So we must keep the dirt out of the milk in the first place and cool 

 the milk right down to check this bacterial groAvth and keep the 

 milk clear. Now, the dirt and bacteria come from the cow, the 

 si able air or barn. There is dirt and dust sifts down from the hay 

 over head and when the cows are not brushed off, we get contamina- 

 tion from them. Then sometimes we do not have the platform the 

 length of the cow; the cow gets back to the gutter, and the gutters 

 are not deep enough. The gutters ought to be built deep enough 

 so that the cows will keep clean; we ought to use clean bedding; 

 and the walls and floor ought to be as smooth and clean 

 as possilde. You may say that is folly and it will not hurt 

 the milk. It is going to make the work of keeping things clean 

 easier if the walls and floor are smooth. It does not cost very much 



