CHAPTER VII. 

 THE DAIRY. 



Milk and its Management. Temperature and Milk. Ventilation and 

 Cleanliness. Dairy Equipment. Milk: its Composition. Cream 

 and Creamers. 



Milk and its Management. 



IF any dairy farmer need it, let me persuade him to take notice, 

 when his milk has stood at rest a day or two in the pans, if 

 there is a sediment of dirt at the bottom of it ; if he find it 

 there, he will reasonably regard this dirt as " matter out of 

 place," and will naturally inquire whence it came and why. If 

 he take pains enough, he will find that it came off the cows' 

 teats and udders, or the milkers' dirty hands, or a cow's foot 

 that inadvertently found its way into the milking-pail. He will 

 then arrive at the conclusion that there is carelessness among his 

 people, and possibly even in himself. From this he will probably 

 conclude that it is worth his while to see that udders, and teats, 

 and hands, and milking-pails are clean, and that all restive 

 cows' legs are tied, as a precaution, before those particular cows 

 are milked. 



But it is not only from dirt that milk receives pollution. 

 Strong odours, nauseous or otherwise, which permeate the air 

 are absorbed by milk that is exposed to them, but only when 

 the milk is as cold or colder than the air. The question of 

 temperature governs the absorbent capacity of milk ; for so 

 long as milk is warmer than the atmosphere that surrounds it, 



