82 THE UOIMPLETE FARMER 



Cheeses should not be set to dry in the same room where 

 your iiiiJk is set, for they communicate an acid matter to the 

 surrounding air, which will have a tendency to make the 

 nnilk sour. The milk room and cheese room should therefore 

 be separate apartments. It will be well to place your milk 

 room, if possible, ov^er a spring or brook, near the dwelling- 

 house ; and you may have a stone floor, and channels in the 

 floor to pass the water round near the inside of the walls. 

 Into these channels the pans may be set, filled with milk, 

 and surrounded by water. If water could be introduced 

 into the milk room so as to fall from some height on the 

 pavement, it would likewise prove advantageous, as the 

 waterfall and the evaporation it causes will contribute to 

 preserve the air continually pure, fresh, and cool. As the 

 milk itself when brought in warm will naturally tend to raise 

 the temperature of the milk room too high, it is recommend- 

 ed to have an ice-house attached to the dairy, especially 

 where the advantage of a current of water cannot be obtain- 

 ed. An ice-house would prove still more profitable if the 

 dairy be situated near large towns, where the ice could be 

 sold in summer. According to Dr. Deane, the temperature 

 of the milk room should be from fifty to fifty-five degrees of 

 Fahrenheit's thermometer ; and the Complete Grazier says, 

 ' where the temperature of the milk room has become affected 

 by the carrying of newly drawn milk into it, it may be easily 

 reduced to the proper temperature by suspending a small 

 quantity of ice at a considerable height from the floor ; and 

 if, during winter, the cold should become too great, a barrel 

 of hot water closely stopped, or a few hot bricks placed on 

 the floor or table of the milk room, will readily counteract its 

 effects. But on no account whatever should a chafing-dish 

 with burning coals be used, as it will certainly impart a bad 

 taste to the milk.' 



The proper receptacles for milk are tin or earthen pans, 

 not glazed nor lined with lead, or wooden trays. Lead, 

 copper, or brass utensils, as well as earthen-ware vessels 

 glazed with lead, ought on no pretext whatever to be used; 

 for the acid which is contained in milk combines with these 

 metals, and forms a poisonous compound with them. Sir 

 John Sinclair recommends vessels made of cast iron, softened 

 by annealing them in charcoal, so that they will not break 

 by an ordinary fall, turned smooth in the inside, and laid 

 over with a coat of tin, to prevent the iron from coming in 

 contact with the milk. These milk dishes are stated to be 



