98 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



a cold-storage room. This should be doue within ten or fifteen 

 minutes of the time of milking. The milk should be held at 

 this temperature until ready for delivery. Too much care can- 

 not be exercised to cool the milk quickly and keep it cold, as 

 cleanliness and cold are the two main factors in the production 

 of milk that will keep sweet for any reasonable time. Add to 

 this a healthy herd of cows and healthy attendants, and we 

 have a summary of the necessary requisites for the production 

 and care of clean milk. 



Another of the New York farms making a fine certified 

 milk product is that of Hon. C. A. Wieting, our State Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture. Here practically the same careful 

 attention is given to production as is given at Mr. Stewart's 

 farm. To show you how small a matter may cause trouble : 

 as one of the State Fair Commissioners, Mr. Wieting was 

 necessarily away from home during State fair week last fall. 

 The people who were caring for his farm at Cobleskill had 

 been in the habit of hanging the strainer cloths on a clothes 

 line in the sun. The particular spot where they hung had 

 been protected from the street during the summer by a heavy 

 ffrowth of corn. During; the week of the fair the corn was 

 cut for silage purposes, and the wind swept down the street 

 and across the corn land to where the strainer cloths huiig. 

 When Mr. Wieting returned home the next week, the re- 

 ports showed that the bacterial count of his milk had gone 

 up to 36,000, and he began a careful investigation. Every- 

 thing about the stable was carefully gone over. The utensils 

 were all examined carefully. Questions were asked as to the 

 icing and other conditions which had existed during the 

 week, and slight alterations were made where they seemed 

 warranted, but the next week the count went up again. Mr. 

 Wieting put in a day at the farm, examining everything, and 

 finally found these cloths on the line. Not because he felt 

 that this was the probable source of contamination, only a 

 possible one, he told the men to put them into a Lisk 

 roaster, which happened to be on the premises, and bake 

 them thoroughly, carrying them to the milk room in the 

 roaster without opening. This was done. The bacterial 

 count dropped that day to less than 3,000. 



