No. 4.] SANITARY MILK. 87 



Haecker and Melick have also reported observations on the 

 contamination of milk during milking. Petri dishes were 

 exposed under udders which had been (1) sponged with 

 water, (2) sponged with a 5 per cent solution of carbolic 

 acid, (3) smeared with vaseline and (4) merel}' brushed 

 with the hand. The ordinary motions of milking were gone 

 through with, but no milk was drawn. When the plates 

 were exposed in the pasture the number of colonies which 

 developed from exposure under udders treated with carbolic- 

 acid solution was 65, with vaseline 92, with water 120 and 

 untreated 310. When the exposures were made in the stable, 

 the corresponding numbers were 344, 346, 483 and 20,500. 

 These figures show the value of sponging the udder as a 

 means of reducing bacterial contamination, and also the 

 greater danger of contamination when the milking is done in 

 the stable. 



Professor Fraser of the Illinois station has made some 

 very interesting experiments, and draws the following con- 

 clusion : — 



Paying special attention to cleanliness in every step of the 

 production and care of milk will result not only in clean milk, 

 but in a marked reduction in the number of bacteria it con- 

 tains, which will greatly lengthen its keeping qualities. That 

 the desired results may be obtained, care must be constantly 

 exercised. It is of little consequence to practice extreme clean- 

 liness in all of the steps of milk production but one, and be filthy 

 about that one, as this spoils the whole. Even if the majority 

 of species of bacteria which ordinarily gain access to milk are 

 not dangerous to health, no one cares to consume milk in which 

 a sediment is found at the bottom if it is allowed to stand for 

 a short time. Frequently much filth is allowed to get into 

 milk during milking, and many milkers practice the filthy 

 habit of keeping the teats wet with milk during the milking 

 process; yet after it is drawn the greatest care is exercised that 

 no dust or dirt gain access to it. As far as the final result is 

 concerned, all painstaking care in the subsequent operations is 

 lost because of the careless work at the beginning during the 

 process of milking; for if filth once gains access to milk, no 

 amount of care afterwards can remedy the difficulty. It is 

 therefore of the greatest importance to the advancement of 

 better dairying that special emphasis be placed upon the opera- 



