ON AGRICULTURE TO DENMARK 91 



The Danish Milk Supply Company's Freezing Station at 



Marslev 



The milk collected at this centre is brought in from a radius of 

 four miles, and is the produce of about 1400 cows. The milk is 

 brought to this establishment twice a day in summer and only 

 once a day in winter. The most of the milk is brought in by 

 collectors or contractors, who are usually farmers. These collectors 

 get ^ ore per 4 Danish pounds when the milk is collected once a 

 day, and 1 ore per 4 pounds when collected twice a day. Fanners 

 who choose to deliver their own milk get the full price of 

 16| ore per 4 Danish pounds. When the milk is brought only 

 once a day the earlier milking must be refrigerated and cooled 

 down to from 14 degrees to 15 degrees centigrade or 59 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, and must not be mixed with that of another milking. 

 The bulk of the milk collected is forwarded daily to the Company's 

 establishment at Copenhagen, and, as it takes about seven hours 

 on journey, the Company take the most rigid precautions with a 

 view to secure that it shall arrive even in the hottest weather in the 

 most perfect condition. The process adopted is as follows : — 



The milk, on arrival, is first pasteurised by being heated to 

 85 degrees to 90 degrees centigrade or 185 degrees to 194 degrees 

 Fahrenheit, then passed over first one refrigerator and then another, 

 the water circulating through the second refrigerator being highly 

 brined ; by this means the milk is reduced to a temperature of 

 10 degrees centigrade or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. To ensure that 

 the milk will not rise in temperature in course of transit, a portion 

 of it is frozen and the frozen blocks put amongst the milk. The 

 freezing process is carried out by what is called the Casse Ammonia 

 System. The milk is placed in thin oblong tubes having wooden 

 lids, and immersed in a tank containing a strong solution of brine. 

 This brine is cooled by liquefied ammonia, which is forced through 

 pipes circulating in the brine tanks. The freezing of the milk is 

 accomplished in about twelve hours. The tubes containing the 

 frozen milk are then, by an ingenious arrangement, hooked out of 

 the tank and immersed for a moment in another tank containing 

 hot water. This facilitates the getting of the blocks of ice readily 

 out of the tubes. Several of these blocks are then placed inside 

 the larger churns or tanks in which the cooled milk is conveyed to 

 Copenhagen. These churns or tanks contain half a ton of milk 

 each, and are fitted on trolley wheels and run out on rails to the 

 loading stage, where the arrangements are so perfect that they are 

 hoisted with the utmost ease into the specially constructed railway 

 vans in which the milk is conveyed to Copenhagen. It is claimed 

 that milk treated in this way will keep perfectly sweet for five 

 days. In summer the railway vans are painted white, and some- 

 times are covered by tarpaulins, in order to keep down the 

 temperature in very hot weather. A quantity of the milk received 

 at this station is separated, varying according to the demand in 

 Copenhagen. In this case the farmers are only bound to t^ke 

 back 25 per cent, of the separated milk to the farms^which is 



