112 THE CREAMERY PATRON'S HANDBOOK. 



the more common bacteria, the milk would soon assume a slimy or stringy 

 condition. The various fermentations that are continually going on in 

 milk represent, in a limited compass, the perpetual struggle that is seen 

 everywhere in nature. In some cases, different forms of life live together in the 

 same fluid in seeming harmony, but only so because both of them are indif- 

 ferent to -each other. Sooner or later a struggle ensues as to which will gain 

 the mastery, and just as the weaker plant or tree is choked out in the field 

 or forest, so the course of fermentative changes is determined by the pre- 

 dominance of certain ferment germs and the conditions that affect their 

 environment. 



Having determined that the abnormal condition is a slimy fermenta- 

 tion, that is general to the whole herd, the question is to locate its origin. 

 Under ordinary conditions, it must gain a foothold in the milk subse- 

 quent to its withdrawal. 



In some instances where inflammation of the udder (mammitis) occurs, 

 the milk is slimy when it is drawn, but such instances would be readily 

 recognized from the condition of the udder. The most likely sources ot 

 infection of this character are those that are due to the contamination from 

 the barn air or. the animal herself. Brushing and carding the under parts 

 of the animal to remove loose hairs and then thoroughly moistening the 

 same to prevent the dislodgment of fine dust-like particles will materially 

 diminish the danger arising from the coat of the animal. Cows wading 

 in stagnant pools often become coated with slime and in some cases slime 

 forming bacteria have been found in the surface water. 



The fault may be with imperfectly cleaned utensils, such as rusty 

 cans or pails. Such a source of infection may be positively excluded by 

 giving all utensils, strainers and dippers, as well as cans and pails, a thor- 

 ough scalding and steaming. Epidemics of these milk troubles have been 

 in several instances traced to contamination of barn air from foul feed or 

 litter. The dust rising from such stuff remains suspended in the air for 

 some little time, and under such conditions exposure of the milk may re- 

 sult in infecting it with the obnoxious form. 



EXCLUSION OF BACTERIA BY CLEAN MILKING AND HANDLING. By taking 

 greater care in securing the milk to see that no foreign matter is allowed 

 to fall into the same, and continuing this care during the entire handling, 

 it is usually possible to overcome the peculiar defect by exclusion. If a 

 dairy once becomes infected in this way, it must be remembered that the 

 the dairy utensils and the whole surroundings of the place are likely to 

 contain the specific ferment germs, just as under ordinary conditions they 

 invariably contain the peculiar forms capable of souring che milk. By 

 eliminating one source after another the milk producer can usually find the 

 direct cause and then by instituting more rigorous measures in regard 

 to this, he can in the future avoid a repetition of the difficulty. 



If the milk is received in thoroughly cleaned pails, if loose hairs, dust 

 and dirt are prevented from falling into the pail during milking, if the barn 



