THE MILKER 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE fact that milk is a food will sug- 

 gest to every person that the rules of 

 cleanliness observed in the kitchen 

 and dining room may be well applied to its 

 production. It is not too much to say that 

 the milker should make a toilet for the dairy 

 as punctilious as that of the maid who waits 

 on the table. 



The need of cleanly precautions is in- 

 creased because milk has a peculiarly active 

 capacity for absorbing all manner of odors, 

 it is a favorable medium for the propagation 

 of disease bacteria, and its color and taste 

 are no indications of its power for good or 

 evil. It is especially dangerous, since unlike 

 many foods it does not, in a majority of the 

 uses it is put to, undergo the sterilization 

 produced by cooking. In view of this, it is 

 not unreasonable to demand that the per- 

 sons handling milk, while it is exposed, be 

 free from disease, and be cle-n in person and 

 clothing. 



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