5O SOURCE OF BACTERIA IN MILK. 



to-day allow no one who has contact with any contagious 

 disease to have anything to do with the handling of the 

 milk. Dairymen should be on the watch for such con- 

 tagious disease and no one who is recovering -from any con- 

 tagious disease, or who has anything to do with the nursing 

 of persons suffering from them should be allowed to have 

 anything to do with the milk supply. 



Milk Vessels. That milk vessels should be washed as 

 cleanly as possibly is a fact that every dairyman understands. 

 A perfectly satisfactory method of washing is hardly avail- 

 able on an ordinary farm. As already noticed, the bacteria 

 which are in the milk pail can only be thoroughly removed 

 by live steam, and this is rarely found on the farm. Where 

 such steaming is not possible the dairyman must do as well 

 as he can to wash the vessels clean without it. They should 

 be very thoroughly scrubbed with hot water containing some 

 alkali, like sal soda, should be scalded in boiling water and 

 then, without rinsing in cold water, they should be turned 

 upside down or inclined at about 45 and allowed to stand 

 in the air until needed for use. They should not be rinsed 

 in cold water unless the source of the water is absolutely 

 reliable, nor should they be wiped with a rag after scalding. 

 Such a washing will not sterilize them, and they will always 

 be a source of bacterial contamination; but if the water is 

 very hot and the washing thorough the bacteria in the vessels 

 will be greatly reduced. If it is possible to send them to a 

 creamery occasionally for treatment with live steam this should 

 be done, especially in hot weather, for it will be an efficient 

 aid in preventing the souring of milk which is so common 

 at these seasons. The milk vessels should not be allowed to 

 stand in rooms where any patients are suffering from any 

 form of contagious disease. The air of such rooms is liable 

 to contain pathogenic bacteria which may find their way into 

 the milk and become a subsequent source of the disease to 

 consumers of the milk. Such instances have been recorded, 



