392 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



"The followincj fact shows not ouly the importance of having vessels for holding milk 

 perfectly clean, but made of material easily kept so. We purchased a new wooden pail, 

 unpainted inside, for a milk pail. The usual care was taken to wash, scald, and dry it every 

 time it was used. It was found after some time that if the milk was allowed to remain in it, 

 say, from a quarter to half an hour bef jre being strained, particles of lojjpered milk could lie 

 found gathered in the crease or angle formed at the junction of the bottom and sides, and no 

 amount of scalding or scrubbing could ])revent it. It became advisable to throw it asitK% 

 and use a tin one in its place, when the trouble ceased. AVas it not that particles of milk at 

 some time had become absorbed, and lodged so deeply in the pores of the wood as to be out 

 of the reach of scalding water, (wood being a poor conductor of heat,) where it had 'turned,' 

 and thus formed a nidus for loppered particles, which acted upon the new milk and changed 

 it in so short a time." 



Tlic danger that the ferment may find a lodgment permanently in woodrn 

 vessels, together with the great amount of labor which their use involves, should 

 cause their banishment from the cheese dairy in all cases where metallic vessels 

 can be substituted with advantage. If wooden vessels must be iiscd, great 

 caution should be had not to employ any which have been recently painted. 

 On this point Mr. Willard remarks : 



" Sometimes, when the dairyman has been using newly-painted pails and tubs, he will 

 find black specks and spots on the rinds of many of his cheese^s, and should he cut then), 

 the same peculiaiity is found throughout the cheese. This i>i poison cheese, more or less dan- 

 gerous to the consumer, and justly feared and avoided in the market; for though much of it 

 may possibly be eaten in small quantities without producing any serious etiect or sickness 

 yet the chances are that some of the cheese is very poisonous. Now the daii'ynian is often, and 

 perhaps generally, ignorant of the cause, and innocent of any intent to poison, and he learns 

 with amazement that his cheese has been thrown out of market, or sent back to him, or that 

 some family has been poisoned by eating it ; but such is the I'act, and the result has been 

 brought about by carelessly using newly-painted utensils. The milk and whey have ex 

 traded poison from the lead and deposited it in the cheese. The fact has been well substan- 

 tiated in numerous cases where the matter has been fully traced out. When utensils are to 

 be newly painted, it should be done at a time when they will not be needed for three months ; 

 and before being painted they should be thoroughly scnrbbed with strong lye, in order that 

 all the old flaky paint be removed, and a good clean surface be presented for the new paint." 



The cleanliness referred to should include not only the utensils, but every 

 part of the premises. Milk absorbs odors of any kind with such facility that 

 much caution needs to be exercised lest it suffer injury by exposure to offensi\'>e 

 effluvia. Let milk be ever so rich, it may be spoiled before as well as after 

 rennet is added. 



Having secured cleanliness in all the appurtenances belonging to the dairy, 

 having before us pure milk in clean vessels, we come to the second point, to wit, 

 that the milk be rid of animal odor, and be in the proper state both as to proxi- 

 mate acidity and temperature. That peculiar aura or effluvium which milk 

 holds when freshly drawn has already been referred to, and it is only needful 

 here to say that the milk should be freely exposed to the air until this has 

 wholly passed off. 



The proper condition of the material in regard to acidity is a point of much 

 consequence, and is one to which hitherto but little attention has been paid by 

 the great masa of dairymen in this country. When milk is drawn from the cow 

 it is sometimes alkaline, sometimes neutral, and sometimes acid ; oftentimes 

 acid in summer, indeed, if my o'wn observations afford a fair criterion. The 

 milk of cows at pasture diu-ing the summer months in this country is usually 

 acid, for in no instance has it been found alkaline, and very rarely neutral itutil 

 very late in the autumn. It is never acid so as to taste sour, but sufficiently 

 so to exhibit an acid reaction to a delicate test.* 



As soon as exposed to the air, there commences a spontaneous conversion t-f 

 the sugar (of which milk usually contains from four to five per cent.) into lactic 



* Litmus paper is used for this purpose. It is colored blue by a vegetable infusion. A very 

 slight degree of free acid in any li(|uid is detected by the reddening of the paper, and when 

 thus reddened a very little alkali sutiices to restore tlie blue. 



