12 



own family and those who may drink the milk, not to speak of 

 the quality of the butter. Either on the farm or in the creamery, 

 cleanliness means dollars and cents. 



MILKING. 



The manner in which the milking is done has also an in- 

 fluence on the cost of production. Regular hours are all-important 

 and so is kindness. Indeed, I do not believe any one quite a suc- 

 cess as a milker unless he (or she) can make the cow look upon 

 him (or her) as an adopted calf. 



The importance of milking the very last drop is due not only 

 to the fact that the last pint is many times more valuable (richer 

 in butterfat) than the first, but also to the fact that it helps to 

 keep up the flow of milk and extend the milking period. This is 

 especially important in developing heifers. The money lost all 

 over the United States by poor milking can hardly be over- 

 estimated. 



Cleanliness in milking means quality in the butter. If the 

 cows are cleaned and brushed an hour or so before milking, so 

 as to let the dust settle, the only precaution needed is dampening 

 the udder with a wet cloth so as to prevent scales and dust from 

 falling into the pail. Many milkers have the bad habit to let their 

 fingers get wet, sometimes deliberately dipping them into the 

 milk, so as to make them slide down the teats. The proper way 

 is to milk with perfectly dry hands, by squeezing, not by sliding. 

 Only in "stripping" to start the flow and to get the last drops of 

 milk, it may be preferable^ to slide the fingers down the teats. 



It is hardly necessary to say that hands and fingernails must 

 be clean and that all utensils must first be rinsed with cold water 

 and then carefully washed and scrubbed using soda, the ex- 

 cellent "Wyandotte Cleaner and Cleanser," "Savogran," or 

 "Gold Dust" (never common soap) when needed and finally 

 rinsed with boiling (not 190 or 200, but 212 deg. Fah.) water. 

 The pails and cans should be easy to clean and the seams sol- 

 dered perfectly smooth as any little unevenness in the surface 

 makes them more difficult to clean. 



These rules for producing clean milk are not new ; over a hun- 

 dred years ago they were observed by the good buttermakers, but 

 it remained for the last decade of last century to explain the rea- 

 son "why," and thus make the tedious work easy. 



