34 Dairy Bacteriology. 



milk is not materially enhanced. It may be of im- 

 portance in inhibiting growth in the udder. 



Rejection of fore-milk. The fact that the fore-milk 

 contains per cubic centimeter so much more germ life 

 than the remainder of the milk has led some to advocate 

 its rejection when a sanitary milk supply is under con- 

 sideration. "While from a purely quantitative point of 

 view, this custom may be considered advantageous, in 

 practice, however, it is hardly worth while since it is 

 not at all certain that the rejection will have any effect 

 on the keeping quality or healthfulness of milk. This is 

 especially true if the ends of the teats are thoroughly 

 cleaned before milking. It is true that the fore-milk is 

 relatively deficient in fat so that the loss of butter fat 

 occasioned by the rejection of the first few streams is 

 comparatively slight. 



Contamination from utensils. One of the most im- 

 portant phases of contamination is that which comes 

 from the utensils used to hold the milk from the time it 

 is drawn until it is utilized. Not only is this important 

 because it is a leading factor in the infection of milk, 

 but because much improvement can be secured with but 

 little trouble, and it is especially necessary that the 

 dairy student should be made familiar with the vari- 

 ous conditions that obtain. Pails and cans used to hold 

 milk may be apparently clean to the eye, and yet con- 

 tribute materially to the germ content of the milk placed 

 in them. Not only does much depend upon their con- 

 dition, but it is equally important to take into consider- 

 ation their manner of construction. Dairy utensils 

 should be simple in construction, rather than complex. 

 They should be made so that they can be .readily and 



