NEW YORK MILK COMMITTEE 133 



with a perceptible opening around the plate. Milk, soapy 

 water and dirt of every description can easily enter these open- 

 ings, and a goodly portion becomes permanently lodged there, 

 for no amount of scrubbing can entirely remove it. Take an 

 old pail or can that has seen years of service, in even a well 

 kept dairy and pry up the tin at the rim and look under the 

 wire. The matter which has accumulated there resembles in 

 appearance and odor that which is removed from a stopped up 

 kitchen drain pipe. And why should it not? 



I have brought for your inspection the lid and top of a can 

 which has been in use for one year. I washed it as clean as 

 possible then placed it on a hot stove. Part of the substance 

 which came out of the cracks took fire and burned ; but enough 

 remains to show you what I mean. This putrifying mass is 

 laden with those forms of bacteria which we are most anxious 

 to keep out of our milk. The covered pail is recognized as a 

 necessity wherever the best is sought. In my judgment the 

 hooded pail is to be preferred as it protects the opening and 

 does away with a strainer in the cover of the pail. It seems 

 more sensible to keep hairs and particles of dirt from falling 

 in at all rather than to have them caught on a strainer and 

 washed over and over by the milk. In the latter case all the 

 really harmful part gets into the pail just the same. 



What I wish to emphasize most strongly is the necessity of 

 having the seams and joints of every utensil absolutely tight. 

 They should be flushed with solder inside and out and smoothly 

 finished. This is particularly important in large cans. The 

 milk stands in them for a long time and during transportation 

 they are exposed to dirt and cinders and are handled by un- 

 cleanly workmen. 



It is a matter for congratulation that the common sense 

 milk bottle is so rapidly becoming the standard. 



I need hardly speak of the obvious advantages to the con- 

 sumers of milk when good utensils are used. Would that they 

 were more discriminating and appreciative. The cry that is 

 raised by the man on the farm is "they cost too much." Let 

 him remember that his pails rust out first in the seams and rim 

 rather than on the flat surfaces. Tinware with no opening 

 in which a drop of water can lodge will wear years longer than 

 that which cannot ever be thoroughly dried. If time is valued 



