REDUCING BACTERIA IN MILK 265 



with particles of dust which soon fall into and con- 

 taminate the milk 



Too much attention cannot be given to the cleaning 

 of the milk pails, churns, and other utensils, both by the 

 farmer and the dairyman. The latter not unfrequently 

 returns unwashed churns containing sour milk swarming 

 with bacteria, to effectually get rid of which involves 

 much trouble to the farmer. 



All vessels should first be rinsed with cold water and 

 then treated with live steam or boiling water. Rusty 

 and badly indented cans, from the crevices of which it is 

 difficult to clean out all the milk, should be discarded. 

 Ample arrangements should be made for keeping clean 

 cans in a cool clean part of the farm buildings, preferably 

 in the dairy or cooling room. 



The keeping qualities of the milk can be greatly 

 improved by cooling it to 10 C. (50 F.) directly after 

 it is drawn. If a cooler is used for this purpose it should 

 be kept in a clean, dust-free place, and after use must be 

 carefully cleaned: in any drops of milk left on it, 

 bacteria increase enormously and may be washed off into 

 the next milk which is passed over it. 



Churns or cans in which milk is sent by rail should be 

 locked or sealed, and those patterns in which the lids allow 

 some of the contents to splash out and run back again 

 into the churn should be abandoned. The close-fitting, 

 overlapping form of lid effectively prevents this from 

 happening and at the same time does not allow rain to 

 enter. 



The provision of specially constructed refrigerator vans 

 and cool, clean depots at the railway termini would do 

 much to reduce contamination. 



