146 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MILK HYGIENE 



central feed alley, feeding is facilitated and, if there are 

 windows in the side walls, the posterior part of the cow 

 is in the lightest part of the stable, which is a convenience 

 in cleaning the cow and in milking; but the spread of 

 infection is favored because material coughed out by one 

 cow may be deposited in the feed trough of the cow 

 standing opposite in the other row. With the cows fac- 

 ing outward toward the side walls, the cleansing of the 

 stable and the removal of the manure is facilitated and 

 there is less exposure to infection by coughing, but the 

 cleaning of the cow and the milking must be done in 

 the darkest part of the stable and the milk must also be 

 carried between the two rows of cows and is thus exposed 

 to external contamination, especially in the fly season 

 when the cows frequently switch their tails. 



Maternity and hospital stalls should be provided in 

 another part of the building or in another building. If 

 there are not special stalls for these purposes, cows with 

 vaginal discharge from retained placenta and with other 

 pathological excretions will be stabled in the milking line 

 and may infect the milk indirectly. 



(d) Light. The cow stable should receive sufficient 

 daylight to make it possible to read ordinary newspaper 

 print in the middle of it. This much light is necessary for 

 the cleaning and the milking of the cows to receive proper 

 attention. Nearly all of the work which must be done in 

 a cow stable can be done better and easier in the light than 

 in the dark. The admission of sunlight into a stable is 

 beneficial in several respects. It lights the stable and 

 exposes dirt, thus assisting in keeping the stable and 

 cows clean; it facilitates careful milking; assists in dry- 

 ing out the stable ; supplies some warmth to the stable in 

 winter, and has a disinfectant action. The germicidal 



