DAIRYING. 129 



Grade " A " milk is not, however, confined to the higher price 

 obtained; the farmer also finds a much readier sale for his cows. 

 For example, a fanner in the neighbourhood of the Reading 

 Institute, whose dairy herd was until a few years ago " wasting " 

 to the extent of 7 or 8 animals every year, decided to produce 

 Grade " A " milk. He now suffers no " wastage " and is regarded 

 as a source of supply of " tubercle free " beasts to the neigh- 

 bourhood. 



Further, quite apart from the tuberculin test, the introduction 

 of cleanly methods into the cowshed will go far to solve the problem 

 of dirty milk. This is well shown by an interesting experiment 

 conducted on the new farm at Shinfield Manor in 1921. A class 

 of students, who were intelligent and interested but had not had 

 experience in methods of clean milk production, were set to work 

 to produce milk from the farm herd during the months of Feb- 

 ruary and March. The milk was taken from cows in a cobwebby, 

 unevenly-cobbled, badly-lit shed, and at first the ordinary 

 methods of the farm worker were followed; the utensils were 

 washed with cold water at the pump and stored outside the shed 

 in the usual way. The milk produced was examined bacterio- 

 logically and was found to be very dirty and unsatisfactory. 

 A simple steam steriliser was then brought into the cowshed. 

 The utensils were steamed just before milking, and hot water 

 taken from the steamer was used to assist in the washing up after 

 the milking was finished. In the intervals between milking the 

 vessels were stored in the usual position outside the shed. By 

 this means a great improvement in the cleanliness of the milk 

 was effected, but even so the standard was low. In the third 

 experiment, the same washing and steaming of utensils was 

 adopted, and in addition the cows were washed. In these circum- 

 stances, milk of high cleanliness was obtained. It was proved, 

 therefore, that it was possible to produce really clean milk under 

 very disadvantageous sanitary conditions. One fact, however, 

 should be emphasised — namely, that the milker himself must 

 have an intelligent interest in producing clean milk; otherwise, 

 at some stage in the process, dirt is bound to come in, which will 

 upset the whole result. The clean milker requires water, steam 

 and light, and also a certain amount of apparatus, such as 

 brushes, clippers, clothes washing for the cows, clean overall and 

 cap for milking, clean milking stools, soap and soda. The 

 milking pail, strainer, cooler and milk churn must all be washed 

 and steamed before use. Even the milking stool must be kept 

 thoroughly clean, or the hand of the milker may be soiled in 

 picking it up, and the value of his other labours diminished in 

 consequence. 



