

PART III. 

 BACTERIA IN DAIRY PRODUCTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 



RELATION OF BACTERIA TO THE DAIRY 

 AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



BACTERIA have an important relation to agriculture, not only 

 in regard to the raising of crops, but also in the matter of hand- 

 ling them. There is no product of the farm so closely related 

 to bacteria as milk and its products. In some respects the 

 dairy methods in use have been almost revolutionized by the 

 discoveries of modern bacteriologists. 



BACTERIA IX MILK. 



Milk, when secreted from the mammary gland of a healthy 

 cow, is commonly, if not always, free from bacteria. It has 

 been no easy matter to demonstrate this fact since the chances 

 of bacteria getting into the milk from the outside are very great. 

 But a sufficient number of careful experiments have been made 

 to demonstrate conclusively the truth of the statement. 



If the cow is not in perfect health the milk may no longer 

 be free from bacteria. When a cow is suffering from general- 

 ized tuberculosis, or when she has this disease localized in the 

 udder, her milk, even when secreted, is sure to contain bacteria. 

 Indeed any udder infection due to bacteria, or even a simple 

 inflammation of the mammary gland, is likely to result in the 

 contamination of the milk with the bacteria which cause the 

 trouble. Anyone who milks a cow suffering from any udder 



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