I4O PRACTICAL DAIRY BACTERIOLOGY 



INFECTION AT THE CREAMERY AND FACTORY 



The primary infection of milk is at the barn and dairy, but 

 a secondary infection may occur elsewhere, either in creameries 

 or factories or milk distributing stations, and it is necessary to 

 guard milk in these*places. For example, many creameries that 

 handle milk cans are careless about their washing, and even 

 if they thoroughly wash them, will only adopt the system of 

 a steam jet for a few seconds for the purpose of sterilizing. 

 Many factories do even worse than this; they allow dirty, un- 

 washed cans to lie around the factory for some time or permit 

 the farmers to carry them away unwashed. Any factory that 

 depends upon the farmer to wash the cans will suffer for it. 

 The factory cans circulate from one farm to another, and if a 

 farm once becomes contaminated with bacteria, such trouble is 

 sure to be distributed through the factory to the whole com- 

 munity. The remedy is to cut it off at the creamery, and this 

 can be done only by thorough cleaning and sterilizing of the 

 cans at this central station. 



In many separating stations and cheese factories a very un- 

 fortunate custom has arisen that distributes all kinds of bacteria 

 and makes it impossible for the dairyman to furnish a good 

 product. The farmer brings his milk in cans and carries back 

 to his farm whatever skim milk chances to be running through 

 the separator at the time. By the time he has reached home, 

 especially in summer, the skim milk is apt to be sour. The 

 farmer may now attempt to wash the cans after emptying them, 

 but this is really impossible. The cans cannot be properly 

 cleaned on the farm, and fresh milk is put into them at the next 

 milking. Under such conditions it is impossible to produce good 

 milk. The conditions are still worse in some cheese factories, 

 where the farmer takes back whey to his home. The whey 

 from the cheese vats is stored in tanks or barrels from which 

 the farmer fills his milk cans. The whey tanks are not washed, 



