86 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



stable for some time after it has been drawn from the cow. 

 They also show the necessity of having the stables abso- 

 lutely clean and well ventilated, if we are going to produce 

 the best milk. If simple exposure to these odors so readily 

 contaminates the milk, how about the dirt which clings to 

 the cow's body and which may drop into the pail? It is 

 not necessary for me to give in detail the results of experi- 

 ments in regard to this. Every producer knows from ex- 

 perience the necessity of keeping the milk clean, but few 

 of us are as careful as we should be. 



Where men are getting the best results in making clean 

 milk, they have found it best to clip the long hairs from the 

 udder and flank of the cows ; to groom them thoroughly ; 

 to use some material for bedding which does not carry a 

 large amount of dust, and, if it is dusty, to moisten it 

 slightly to keep the dust down. 



While I consider the bacterial count to be far from an 

 ideal method of estimating the value of the best quality of 

 milk, from the fact that it does not distinguish between lac- 

 tic acid and other bacteria, — even the pathological ones, 

 which are those which cause disease, — it is probably the best 

 system which we have at present upon which to base our 

 judgment; and it lias been proven conclusively that very 

 small particles of dirt falling from the cow's body increase 

 the count enormously. Very few of us realize how rapidly 

 bacteria increase in the milk, and how easy it is to introduce 

 a remarkably vigorous parent stock. For instance, at Cor- 

 nell University 500 c. c. of sterile milk were kept at room 

 temperature, and a live fly was placed in this milk. At 

 the end of twenty-four hours the milk contained 765,000 

 bacteria per c. c, and in thirty-six hours the number had 

 increased to 5,675,000 per c, c. A piece of hay about an 

 inch long was placed in sterile milk. In one hour it con- 

 tained 3,025 bacteria per c. c, and in twenty-four hours 

 over 3,000,000. One piece of sawdust fi*om the stable floor 

 was placed in the milk. In twenty-four hours it contained 

 7,000,000 bacteria per c. c. One hair was pulled from the 

 cow's flank and placed in 500 c. c. of sterile milk. In 

 twenty-four hours it contained 55,000 bacteria per c. c, and 

 in thirty-six hours over 5,000,000 bacteria per c. c. 



