CLEAN MILKING 525 



several points to which reference must be made. Great attention 

 should be paid to the cleansing of the utensils and churns used 

 in dairy work. Churns of defective construction, imperfectly- 

 fastened, and admitting of the entrance of dirt should not be 

 used. Above all, unclean churns should be avoided. In 

 Denmark, and also now in other parts, the farmers' cans are 

 cleansed in water heated by the injection of steam, each 

 farmer having his own cans, which are returned to him 

 immediately after cleansing. As a general rule the big farms 

 sterilise their own churns, and the small farms have this done for 

 them by the Company taking the milk. Such a Company treats 

 the vessels used in its establishment in the same way. Bottles are 

 cleansed by revolving brushes applied to the interior, and finally 

 by steam injected into the inverted bottles. Churns are also 

 cleansed by a jet of steam. It is of the greatest importance that 

 all buckets, pails, churns, cans, utensils, etc., used on the farm or in 

 the dairy in connection with milk should be scrupulously clean.^ 

 Where possible they should be sterilised by steam. 



After cleansing, the utensils should be kept inverted in pure air 

 and sunlight, if possible, until actually wanted for use. Old cans, in 

 which parts of the tin are worn off or where there are seams and 

 cracks, it is impossible to keep really clean, and therefore such 

 utensils should not be employed. A second matter requiring atten- 

 tion is the prompt removal of the pail of milk from the cowshed 

 where the milking has taken place. The milk should not stand in the 

 byre, nor should it be screened in the byre. Many devices have been 

 suggested and practised for reducing the amount of external contami- 

 nation during milking. One of the most obvious, and which is 

 to be recommended, consists in using wholly or partly covered 

 milk pails. One such pail is said to keep out 66 per cent of the dirt. 



2. Scpeening" op straining". — As we have seen, milk contains 

 even under good conditions of dairying a great deal of particulate 

 matter, and the object of screening is its removal. Hairs, dust, and 

 particulate matter generally are likely to be coated with bacteria^ 

 and therefore must be at once removed from the milk. The 

 Danish system is, immediately after milking^ to pass the milk 



* At the Copenhagen Milk Supply Company (Busck) the cans are cleaned 

 by brushing with hot water and soda, and later washing out with hot water and 

 lime, a ladleful of soda, about \ lb., being used for each pail of water, and 

 20 lbs. of lime to 900 litres of water. The outside is then washed and steam 

 injected into the cans. Bottles are washed with soda and water, then placed 

 over revolving brushes, and then steam sprayed. The corks are only used once. 



