50(3 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [H Aug., 1911). 



seemed to pass to other cows with which they came in contact in the 

 sheds durino- milking. This is a very curious and unusual incident, and 

 one which would have, no doubt, offered interesting points for tlioroug^i 

 investigation. In the case of the cows breathing in the polluted air, 

 it would seem that the odour was carried in some way by the blood- 

 stream and absorbed by the milk as' the blood circulated round about 

 the udder. It would be possible for milk tainted in this way to give 

 off the odour immediately after milking, and for the odour thus 

 transmitted to the atmosphere to be again absorbed by untainted milk 

 from other cows in the shed. It is generally contended that milk is 

 pure and free from odours other than those specially characteristic of 

 the substance as it is drawn from the cow's udder, and that con- 

 tamination generally takes place after milking. But milk is a curious 

 thing to deal with, and our knowledge with regard to the chemical and 

 bacteriological aspect of it is stiH imperfect. 



It is a well-known fact that milk readily absorbs the odours of a 

 cowshed. The very objectionable taints which follow the use of certain 

 roots and vegetables as foods for the cows are attributed very largely 

 to absorption from the atmosphere, which generally simply "reeks" 

 when such foods are being given. Again, in the dairy it used to be 

 an almost universal custom to keep other foodstuffs, such as cheese, 

 pickles, (tc, on the shelves beside the milk. Tlie odours from these 

 were readily absorbed. This practice, though less common now than 

 in former days, is still carried out in many places. The taint is 

 objectionable, but so long as it is not so strong as to be nauseating, the 

 milk can be used without detriment to any one. Food taints do not, 

 as a rule, render milk unwholesome. Beyond impairing the flavour, 

 there is nothing which is harmful. Many taints, other than those due 

 to the absorption of food odours, do render the milk unwholesome, and. 

 indeed, in some cases, actually dangerous to consumers. 



The above facts do demonstrate with unmistakable truth the very 

 urgent necessity for care in the production of milk. Not only must 

 the buildings in which the cows live and are milked be kept scnipulously 

 clean, but the air which they breathe must be pvue and fresh. 

 Cleanliness in every respect is absolutely indispensable for the production 

 of good, sound milk. Pure, really clean milk is so necessary for the 

 health and well-being of the people who consume it. A strong, healthy 

 groM^i-up person generally has enough vitality to resist the ordinary 

 sources of illness which are carried in milk produced without due lack 

 of care, and such a person, as a rule, only takes a relatively small 

 quantity of milk as an accessory to his ordinary diet. He is in no way 

 dependent upon milk for the food units necessary to maintain life day 

 by day. But an infant, whose resisting powers are immeasurably inferior 

 to those of an adult, is dependent upon milk for all its food. It is 

 small wonder that its health becomes seriously impaired — even if the 

 flame of life does not flicker fitfully and then die out altogether — 

 when the poor little body, in the first weeks of life, when all energy 

 should be concentrated on growth and development, has to carry on 

 a totally unnatural struggle against dise'ise germs and other unwhole- 

 some elements continually present in the only food which Nature allows 

 it to consume. 



— Farmers' Union Advoca,te (N.Z.), 21.6.19. 



