SOURCES OF INFECTION IN THE STABLE. 39 



dirt particles possibly remaining will then not so easily be 

 shaken down. 



Cleanliness in the Milker. The milker must be aware 

 of the fact that he may spoil the milk by untidiness and 

 carelessness. He himself must be cleanly, should wear 

 neat clothes and a clean apron. 



In what contrast to this, as it would seem, simple rule 

 is not the manner in which our milkers usually appear in 

 the cow-stable. It seems to have become almost a tradi- 

 tion that the farm-hands may be dressed carelessly and 

 slovenly while doing their work, and in most places the 

 clothes are the same for all kinds of work done in the barn. 

 They often go to the milking in the same costume and 

 with the same unclean hands as to the cleaning of the 

 stable. And we often see that the milkers as they get 

 out of bed in the morning go unwashed and unkempt to 

 the milking, dressed in the most ragged and dirty articles 

 of clothes in their possession. It is certainly strange that 

 such carelessness is allowed to pass unnoticed on most 

 farms. 



In this connection attention may properly be called to 

 the unfortunate condition that clothes especially used for 

 the work in the barn in many places are kept day after day 

 in the cow-stable ; they are never aired or washed, a fact 

 which is but too plain from their offensive smell. It is 

 almost impossible to calculate how much mischief such 

 dirty articles of clothing may cause in regard to both the 

 health of the milkers and the taste and keeping quality of 

 the milk. Such "small matters" often give a clue to 

 diseases of the milk, of which many complain without 

 understanding their cause. One condition of getting rid 

 of these diseases is therefore that the clothes of the milkers 



