MILK 225 



pail, and dried with a clean towel, a separate one being provided for 

 each cow. 



Milkers and Milking. In a few dairies the milking is not done 

 in the regular stable, the cows being taken to a milking room en- 

 tirely separated from the rest of the barn. This room is well lighted, 

 and every precaution is taken to make it absolutely sanitary. Other 

 dairymen claim that just as good results can be secured by milking 

 in the regular stable if proper precautions are taken. As some of the 

 lowest bacteria counts on record have been obtained where the latter 

 plan is followed, this fact would seem to substantiate the claim. 



The custom is almost universal for the milkers to be clad in 

 freshly laundered suits. Where the most extreme care is taken, the 

 clothing of each milker receives a thorough cleansing with boiling 

 water after every milking, and is then locked in an individual air- 

 tight drying room, where it is sterilized and dried by steam, remain- 

 ing there until wanted for use. Before putting on their special suits, 

 milkers are required to wash their hands and faces and clean their 

 nails. When ready for milking the milker is supplied with a pail 

 and a stool, both of which have been cleansed and sterilized since last 

 in use. With these extreme precautions, when the milker goes to the 

 milk room, he is as clean in person and equipment as it is possible 

 to make him. In milking it is a common practice to discard the 

 foremilk. The milking is done strictly with dry hands, except in 

 a few instances where vaseline is employed (a usage which is re- 

 ported to be entirely practical). In some dairies milkers are re- 

 quired to wash their hands before milking each cow, but this is not 

 the general practice. 



Handling the Milk. After being drawn the milk is taken im- 

 mediately to a separate room, where it is strained into a can through 

 a double thickness of cheese cloth (a separate strainer being used for 

 each pail of milk). It is then taken immediately to the bottling 

 room, where usually it is cooled to a temperature as low as 45 to 

 50 F., and in some cases as low as 35F. Sometimes it is strained 

 again through absorbent cotton on reaching the cooling, room. In 

 a majority of the dairies a cooler of some description is used; in a 

 few, however, the milk is strained into cans standing in ice water. 

 It is then bottled, packed in cases, and covered with crushed ice. 



Certified Milk and Market Milk Compared. As far as the chem- 

 ical composition is concerned, certified milk does not differ materially 

 from ordinary market milk. The milk commissions require that the 

 fat and total solids shall come within certain limits, and for this rea- 

 son there is but little variation in the chemical composition of certi- 

 fied milk. The standards are not high for the reason that milk con- 

 taining about 4 per cent of fat is considered to be the best for imme- 

 diate consumption. As stated elsewhere, many of the herds in certi- 

 fied-milk dairies are composed of grade cows and do not produce milk 

 of more than the average richness. 



When we compare the bacterial content of certified and market 

 milk we find a very striking difference. The bacteria in the average 

 milk supply of our large cities exceed 500,000 to the cubic centi- 



