180 MILK HYGIENE 



other pathogenic bacteria) may gain access to milk 

 through water used to wash the milk vessels, care must 

 be taken that pure water be provided on the farms from 

 which market milk is sold, and that polluted or infected 

 water is not used for cleansing the dairy utensils, nor 

 the udder, nor shall it be used for the cows. [Contam- 

 inated water has also done harm when used for cooling 

 milk and it is believed to have led to the infection of 

 milk, indirectly, through the soiling of the skin of the 

 cow, as when wading through a foul stream. L. P.] 



/. The care of the milk. Immediately after milking 

 each cow, the milk must be run through a fine metal 

 strainer into a container. The strainer holds back only 

 the larger pieces of dirt and some of these are dissolved 

 by the continuous pouring of the milk, and bacteria are 

 washed through, so it is advisable, so far as possible, to 

 prevent the dirt that has been removed from coming into 

 contact with the milk that is to follow. But it cannot be 

 said that a strainer has yet been made that solves this 

 problem in a satisfactory way; therefore one must get 

 along by frequently cleansing the strainer from the par- 

 ticles of dirt. Of course, it is very difficult to insure the 

 observance of such a stipulation. Sufficiently rigid re- 

 quirements in regard to the cleanliness of the milk sold 

 and the seizure of impure milk, followed, perhaps, by the 

 imposition of a fine would aid in enforcing the regula- 

 tion. 



After the milk is drawn, it must be carried to a place 

 prepared for this use and which must be used for no 

 other purpose. This room must be well ventilated, clean 

 and have an impervious floor. 



The milk must be cooled as soon as possible by pass- 

 ing it over a cooler or by putting the cans into tanks 

 containing ice water. If it is nursery milk, the cooling 

 must be very carefully done, so that the temperature 



