DAIRYING 17 



used. Covered milk pails are more necessary in a dirty than in a 

 clean stable and cloth or cotton coverings may be a source of 

 bacteria rather than a protection unless these are sterilized each 

 time before using them. 



Plate 7. The Sterilac Milk Pail. 



The pail with a hood cover which gives a small opening for 

 milking into is now considered a very satisfactory milk pail as 

 it may be easily cleaned, it is convenient, and furnishes nearly 

 all the protection needed in a clean stable when used by a clean 

 milker. The use of open pails for hand milking is fast disappear- 

 ing and doubtless before many years it will be forbidden by state 

 and city boards of health. 



692. Wooden pails should not be used as they easily get 

 sour and cannot be kept thoroughly clean when new. A clean 

 place should be provided for the pails in the stable when it is 

 necessary to set them down. 



The kind of bedding under the cow has a great influence on 

 the contamination of milk. The Virginia Experiment Station 

 found twice as many bacteria in milk when straw as compared 

 with sawdust was used for bedding the cows and by sprinkling 

 straw bedding with water just before milking, the number of 

 bacteria in the milk was reduced 53 per cent. 



