8 DAIRYING 



INFLUENCE OF STABLE CONSTRUCTION ON 

 CLEANLINESS OF MILK. 



678. The place where cows are milked should be as clean as 

 the place where it is consumed. In other words, the cow stable 

 should be as clean as the dining-room and the cows and the 

 milkers as clean as the household cook. 



A cow stable should be built so that it can easily be kept 

 clean and the cow clean and healthy, while in the stable. It need 

 not be an expensive building, although the place where the cows 

 are tied up is usually a part of the farmer's barn in which other 

 stock as well as the hay, grain, etc., are housed. 



679. A few things necessary in a cow stable for protecting 

 the milk from contamination are the following: 



1. Ventilation, which is best secured by some well-con- 

 structed and easily operated device (see par. 718) rather than 

 by loose boards or accidental holes in a window. The walls and 

 ceiling of the. stable may be purified by a coat of whitewash 

 which can be effectually applied with a spray pump ; this ought 

 to be used several times in a year. Some cow stables are cov- 

 ered with straw or old hay placed on boards with large cracks 

 between them. No amount of whitewash will keep such a ceiling 

 in a sanitary condition. Chaff and loose straw dropping through 

 the cracks are a constant source of dust and dirt during milking ; 

 the floor above the cows ought to be as tight as the walls of the 

 stable. 



Smooth, tight walls and ceiling which can be whitewashed 

 with a spray pump or brush at least twice a year are therefore 

 necessary. 



2. Sufficient light should be provided by windows that can 

 be opened and shut easily. See par. 717. 



3. A smooth, watertight floor that drains to the gutter and 

 thence away from the barn. After cleaning out the cow stable, 

 at least twice each day, a sprinkling of plaster over the floor will 

 aid in absorbing the liquids and in preserving the wooden floors; 



