EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 177 



PART II. 

 PRACTICAL CONDITIONS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MILK. 



JOHN MICHKLS. 



There is notliinj^ of an original nature claimed for this bulletin, neither is it 

 considered to be an exhaustive treatise of the subject under discussion, its aim 

 being merely to throw out a few suggestions as they appeal to the practical 

 dairyman. It is pertinent to the discussion to add that some of the phases of 

 the subject as treated herein have been previously considered by Director C. D. 

 Smith, not in bulletin form, but in the 1895 Report of the Board of Agriculture, 

 which is now out of print The increasing attention that milk production is 

 receiving makes it exceedingly desirable that practical hints and cautions be 

 sent out from time to time, regarding the economic production of pure milk, 

 and this bulletin is submitted with this in view and in response to a demand 

 that has of late become quite urgent. 



In view of a persistent demand at present for the production of cleaner and 

 purer milk, it has been deemed desirable to present in this bulletin some prac- 

 tical methods of securing it upon the average farm, in other words, under ordi- 

 nary conditions. To aid in making the discussion of this subject as practicable 

 as possible, the writer has visited the farms of several of the leading dairymen 

 of the State, and has made a careful study of the methods in vogue. It is not 

 proposed here to enter into a discussion of the methods employed in each of these 

 dairies, for too much space would be required to set forth all that may be said 

 to advantage, but it has been the purpose throughout to draw from each 

 those lessons which may furnish to milk producers hints for their own prac- 

 tices, and to recommend those methods which are found to be employed by the 

 best dairymen. That the m.aterial secured might be systematically arranged, we 

 have endeavored to divide it as follows: 



VII. The Care of the Milk after It Has Been Drawn. 



I. UTENSIL.S rSED IN THE D.A.IRY. 



All utensils used in the handling of milk should be made of good tin, with as 

 few seams as possible. Wherever seams occur, they should be flushed with solder. 

 Unflushed seams afford excellent breeding places for micro-organisms, and are 

 doubtless the source of much trouble in the dairy. Figure I illustrates the 

 character of the unflushed seam. 



Figure II represents a flushed seam, which fully illustrates its value. This 

 figure also represents a sanitary milk pail, with a partly closed top. It is 

 modeled after that used by Curler. The sanitary milk pail is further repre- 

 sented in Figure III, where it can easily be seen with its spout, which permits 

 ready emptying, and it wUl also be noticed that it is covered with a cap during 

 the process of milking. The cap is shown at the right. The ring at the left 

 fastens the strainer, which should consist of a double layer of cheese cloth en- 

 closing a layer of absorbent cotton. The purpose of the cotton is to retain 

 fine hairs and any particles of dirt that are not dissolved by the milk. It should 

 be renewed at each milking. The value of a partially closed pail is evidenced 

 by the reduced surface, which has a tendency to keep out many of the micro- 

 organisms, which would otherwise drop into the pail during milking. To illu- 

 strate, a half closed top would have the effect of reducing the contamination 

 from this source about fifty per cent. 



It is well to say in this connection that there are many objections to the so- 

 called sanitary milk pail. It without doubt reduces the contaminaion when the 



23 



