MILK DAIRYING. 403 



The cooling of the milk then becomes a matter of par- 

 amount importance. Ice water is too cold, and produces 

 the very mischief it is intended to prevent. Fifty-five 

 degrees is low enough, and sixty will do very well if the 

 milk is not exposed to unusual risks in the transporta- 

 tion. There are various methods of cooling milk. The 

 most usual one is to put the cans, as soon as the milk has 

 been strained into them, into a tank or pool of cool water, 

 or into a well from which water is drawn for use and is so 

 kept fresh and cool. An iron frame, in which the cans 

 are placed, is lowered into the well by an ordinary wind- 

 lass, and the cans are kept there from early morning, 

 when the cows are milked, until night, when the milk 

 is shipped. The evening's milk is treated in the same 

 way, but is not mixed with the morning's milk. Milk 

 is always shii)ped in the evening, so as to be ready for the 

 early morning's delivery. As the cans often remain on 

 the platform of the railroad depot for a considerable time 

 before they are put on the cars, it is advisable to have 

 a dry, clean blanket, conspicuously marked with the 

 shipper's name, thrown over his cans ; and by making a 

 suitable arrangement with the conductor of the milk 

 train the cans may also be protected in the same way in 

 the car, and thus arrive at their destination several de- 

 grees cooler than if they had been unprotected. 



The great point to observe is not to cool the milk too 

 low, and to cool it as soon as possible after it is strained, 

 airing it well by pouring it through the strainer raised 

 above the pail. The deep-setting milk pails, eight or 

 eight and a half inches in diameter, are convenient for 

 cooling the milk in, and if the temperature is not lower 

 than fifty-five degrees there will not be much cream rise 

 during the day. To prevent the cream rising the milk 

 should be stirred gently two or three times during the 

 day. A tank of water, such as is described in a previous 

 chapter, cooled to the right point by ice, is very suitably 



