VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 89 



own we did not consider them in any way likely to influence 

 our eastern markets, but the race between the east and west 

 today is neck and neck. 



With effort only can we retain and sustain the standard 

 of Vermont butter and cheese to where Vermont maple sugar 

 now stands unapproacable, the best in the world. Many dairy- 

 men wonder how it is some farmers can keep a much larger 

 amount of milk than they have over night and have no trouble 

 in keeping it ; it is always sweet and free from taint, while they 

 dip and dip and in the morning it is sour. There is a secret in 

 this process which I can divulge. Your trouble and extra 

 labor in dipping and cooling to no avail comes about by your 

 cows not being clean. Perhaps the cans have stood all day 

 with milk or whey in them and you have hurriedly washed 

 them to have them ready for milking and perhaps the scald- 

 ing water to scald them did not scald much. You dip and 

 dip, but the milk spoils. You may think just warm water is 

 just as good ; you think you have washed them clean, they 

 look clean but they are not ; millions of living germs are out- 

 side and inside those cans, and when you empty warm milk 

 into such a can they are right there on the ground ready to 

 commence operations, and they will be sure to operate. Be 

 sure the cans are thoroughly cleansed. Nothing short of boil- 

 ing water or steam will destroy those germs. 



The night's milk should be aerated ; if you have no aerator 

 dip it often in hot weather until it is cooled to temperature of 

 outside air. If you set your cans in cold water, dip them just 

 the same. Unless you do the cold water throws up the cream 

 at once and your can is sealed so that no evaporation is possi- 

 ble and the milk is liable to retain an undesirable flavor. 



Go to the factory in seasonable hours and when you re- 

 turn, empty cans immediately; have them washed and scalded 

 at once and set out for the sun and air, to purify. And if you 

 go to the factory at night, never put milk or whey in them 

 but simply rinse them in cold water. Avoid filth in every 

 possible way, so that the milk when delivered will retain as 

 near as possible its normal condition. The same milk that 

 would make fairly good butter would make poor cheese, 

 which is accounted for by a portion of the deleterious bacteria 

 going off in the buttermilk and is retained in the cheese 

 casein. 



It is generally considered by most farmers that if the milk 

 is not sour it must be all right, and are apt to resent any sug- 

 gestions from the maker that the milk is off. The matter of 

 sour milk is of little concern to the experienced cheese maker; 

 he has no fear or dread from it. He can reject it, knowing 

 the farmer understands perfectly well what would be the re- 



