308 DISTRIBUTION OF BACTERIA 



it is desirable that the air of the stable, where the milking is 

 done, should be as free from bacteria as possible. This means 

 that the cows should not be fed with dry food just before or dur- 

 ing the milking time, since the shaking up of the hay and other 

 dry fodder is the means of getting into the air a great amount 

 of dust and its concomitant bacteria. This can be prevented 

 by avoiding the use of dry foods and by using the small-top 

 milk pail. The cleanliness of the milking utensils is another 

 point to be considered. 



Cleanliness of Milking Utensils. The milking utensils need 

 to be so constructed that the seams are all rounding, so that it 

 is impossible for milk, or milk and water, to remain in the 

 seams by capillary attraction. Care is usually exercised now 

 by the manufacturers to see that all of the seams are well 

 rounded out with solder. Utensils ought to be not only 

 carefully cleaned, but they must be allowed to dry, and they 

 ought to dry completely very shortly after they have been 

 washed. Otherwise the water which is left, particularly if 

 there is quite a little milk in it, affords a culture medium for 

 the growth of bacteria, and it may well happen that between 

 milkings the water left in a milking utensil may literally teem 

 with bacteria, and when these same utensils are used in milking, 

 they add very considerably to the germ content of the milk. 



The Milker. The milker affects the bacterial content of 

 milk in more ways than one. In the first place, the dirty suit 

 of clothes, or a suit used in the stable or in the garden, may 

 introduce a good many bacteria, and for this reason in the 



