172 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MILK HYGIENE 



fore-milk from a normal udder usually contains from 

 to 500 bacteria per c.c., mostly udder cocci. Sometimes 

 more may be present, but when the number exceeds 

 5000 per c.c. the udder is infested with mastitis organ- 

 isms, usually streptococci. The fore-milk should not be 

 milked out upon the floor or litter as this supplies condi- 

 tions which are favorable to the growth of bacteria. 



The type of milk pail has a 

 very pronounced influence on the 

 bacterial content of milk. The 

 larger and more horizontal the 

 opening of the pail the greater the 

 opportunity for contamination. 

 There are two types : The open or 

 uncovered pail and the covered-top 

 pail (Figs. 13, 14, and 15). The 

 top of the open pail is entirely un- 

 protected and is about 12 inches in 

 diameter, while the covered-top 

 pail has an opening only 7 inches 

 in diameter, the remainder of the 

 top being covered. The smaller 

 opening, of course, offers much less 

 opportunity for dirt to fall into the FlQ 

 milk. It is more difficult to milk vertical opening - 



into the covered-top pail than into the open pail, especi- 

 ally at first, but this is largely overcome by practice. 

 There are two varieties of covered-top pails : One with 

 the opening vertical and protected by a hood and the 

 other with the opening more or less horizontal (Figs. 

 14 and 15) . The pail with the vertical opening is prob- 

 ably somewhat more difficult to milk into than the pail 

 with the horizontal opening, but it affords a much greater 



