322 THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



Stables should be whitewashed at least once or twice a year. A little lime, 

 water, an old brush, and a pail is all that is necessary. Whitewash is a good 

 disinfectant It sweetens the air of the stable and makes it lighter. Windows 

 are desirable in stables and dairy buildings because most varieties of bacteria 

 are killed in a few hours by direct sunshine. For this reason the lighter the 

 stable the better. 



The hands of the milkers must be washed immediately before milking, and 

 all milking must be done with dry hands. Though this is self-evident, never- 

 theless many dairy employees take no precaution to keep their hands clean, 

 and the milker who washes his hands just before milking is begun is the excep- 

 tion and not the rule. The word " immediately " is very important. Numerous 

 epidemics of typhoid fever have been traced to infected milk and have had 

 their first start from hand infection. The milker may have a mild attack of 

 typhoid fever, or be in the early stages of a severe attack,, or perhaps he 

 may be one of those unfortunates, a typhoid carrier, unfortunate for the 

 community if not for himself. In the act of milking he may wash at least 

 some germs into the milk pail, especially if he squirts the milk upon his 

 palms preliminary to milking. The hands may be soiled by acting as a nurse 

 for some case of typhoid in the family, by emptying or burying the discharges 

 of the patient, or by sharing the family towel with some member of the house- 

 hold who is acting in this capacity. He may be convalescent from scarlet 

 fever or diphtheria, or his hands may come in contact with those who have it. 

 It is easily seen how infective material upon the hands may find its way into 

 the milk and cause sickness for those that drink it. 



It would seem to be absolutely necessary that those engaged in the milk 

 business be free from contagious diseases themselves and have no contact with 

 those suffering from them. Milkers should never commence milking without 

 washing their hands. Dealers should not fill bottles and cap them until they 

 have performed this exceedingly important part of their toilet. The depart- 

 ment recommends that the hands by cleansed by the liberal use of soap and 

 water, after which they should be thoroughly rinsed, and dried with a clean 

 towel. 



The first milk from each teat must be rejected and not collected in the milk 

 pail. Nearly every case of garget is due to bacterial infection of the udder 

 through the teat. The teats, when the cows lay down, come in contact with the 

 stable floor, which can not be always kept perfectly clean. In this way the 

 organisms infect it. By discarding the first stream from each teat any bacteria 

 in the fore milk can be washed into the gutter and not into the milk pail. The 

 first milk is always very poor, and in cases of infection high in bacteria. 



Milk utensils and strainers must be thoroughly cleansed by the use of boiling 

 water and all cans and bottles must be sterilized before they are again used. 

 The washing of milk utensils would seem to be a very simple operation. You 

 may perhaps have noticed that a milk can or pail which has been used as a 

 container for milk and left standing around the house or dairy, after it has 

 been supposed to be thoroughly cleansed and scalded, will many times have an 

 offensive smell. This would not be possible if the container had been properly 

 cleansed and sterilized. The reason milk producers have adopted the system 

 of putting their utensils in the yard to air is to allow the bad odor to escape, 

 which is caused by the bacteria decomposing the dirty material and wash water 

 left in most milk cans. When warm milk is put into rusty cans and cans which 

 are not properly constructed and the joints of which are not well soldered, the 

 dirty material left in the rusty pits and unsoldered joints is dissolved and the 

 bacteria liberated and thus enabled to decompose the warm milk. 



The way to clean dairy utensils is first to rinse them in luke-warm water, 

 then clean thoroughly inside and outside with a brush and hot water in which 

 the cleansing material is dissolved, then thoroughly rinse with plenty of clean 

 water, and lastly sterilize with boiling water or steam. Milk utensils should 

 always be sterilized by keeping them in water continually boiling for at least 

 30 minutes. Confined steam under 15 pounds pressure in a steam sterilizer will 

 kill all germs known in 15 minutes. 



The general laws of this State, chapter 173, section 19, make it a crime for any 

 person, firm, or corporation to ship, return, or deliver to any producer, dealer 

 in, or consumer of milk, any can, jar, bottle, measure, or other vessel used as a 

 container for milk without first thoroughly cleaning and cleansing by the use 

 of boiling water, steam, or other proper agent. Clean milk in sterile bottles, 

 handled by persons free from disease, is the ideal way to deliver milk, but when 

 cans and bottles are left at homes where there are cases of scarlet fever, typhoid 



