CATTLE 365 



should be wiped clean, washed, or sponged off, as may be 

 required. The milker's hands should be freshly cleansed, as 

 it is almost impossible to keep the milk from touching them. 



Special suits should be kept for milking, and should be 

 frequently washed. The practise of putting on old, greasy 

 and unwashed clothes, simply to save soiling other garments 

 while milking, is too filthy to be permitted in any dairy. 

 All utensils should be kept in a perfectly clean place, and 

 well scalded once each day. 



A careful analysis of the dirt contained in milk shows 

 about nine-tenths of it to be cow manure. The other tenth 

 is hair from the cow, dirt from the cow or the milker, par- 

 ticles of the feed used, and disease germs from the cow or 

 hands of the milker. No dairyman should ask a consumer 

 to eat such an array of filth as this. 



Straining the milk. Much of the dirt that gets into 

 the milk can not be strained out, since it fully dissolves and 

 will pass through the strainer as easily as the milk itself. 

 A good strainer will, however, remove a considerable por- 

 tion of the insoluble matter. 



A wire mesh strainer should never be used. The strainer 

 should be cone-shaped, with gauze and absorbent cotton 

 forming the outlet. One thickness of the cotton is placed 

 between four thicknesses of gauze, two on each side, and 

 held in place by a ring which fits over the edges and at- 

 taches it to the bottom of the receptacle. The cotton should 

 be destroyed after each straining, and never used a second 

 time. The additional expense for this type of strainer is 

 slight, and should keep no progressive dairyman from us- 

 ing it. 



Cooling the milk. After cleanliness, the next essen- 

 tial to good care of milk is quick cooling. So important 

 is quick cooling to prevent souring of milk and keep it in 



