DIRTY MILK 73 



Recently Mr.'S. L. Stewart, of Brookside Farms, New- 

 burgh, New York, has surprised the bacteriological world 

 by producing milk in rather large quantities almost free 

 of bacteria. When planted by the usual methods upon 

 agar plates this milk gives no bacterial growth in small 

 quantities such as one hundredth of a cubic centimetre. 

 Such remarkable results are noteworthy. 



Mr. Stewart makes the following statement as to how 

 these results were obtained : 



The cows are fastened up so that they cannot lie down until 

 after being milked. They are then cleaned with brush and curry- 

 comb and all soiled spots are scrubbed with a brush, using a five 

 per cent solution of disinfectant in the water, after which the 

 body of the cow is dampened from the neck back. The tails are 

 dipped in water containing a washing compound and a disinfect- 

 ant, care being taken to dampen the tails from the root down. 

 The udders are then washed with a washing compound, then dis- 

 infected with a one per cent solution of cresylone, a refined pro- 

 duct, with a very slight odor, containing great germicidal proper- 

 ties. After this has remained on about ten minutes, the udders 

 are rewashed with sterile water. This water is drawn from a 

 boiler in which it was sterilized. The water pails are kept for this 

 purpose alone and previously sterilized. The udders are then 

 dried, using a sterile towel for each cow. The heads of the cows are 

 then sprayed with a fine spray from a nozzle, using tepid water, 

 after which the walls and ceilings are sprayed with a fine spray 

 from the same nozzle, thus laying any dust that may have col- 

 lected and taking care of all bacteria in the air or on the wall sur- 

 face. The interior of the barn is a smooth surface, produced by 

 several coats of paint, finished with ripolin enamel, making a very 

 hard surface. After this the men wash their hands, faces, dampen 

 their hair, and put on clean sterilized suits and a cap. Between 

 milking they re-wash their hands, using sterile water drawn from 

 a hospital lavatory operated with a foot-lever. The milk from 

 each cow is handled separately, being strained through a separate 

 cheese-cloth strainer for each cow, the strainer being examined by 

 the dairyman to guard against any udder trouble which can be 

 detected on a strainer cloth before it could be detected by feeling 



