March, 1936] Maintenance of Grade A Milk 21 



Caring for the cows and milking practices: Nearly all of the items 

 shown in Table 8 do not involve any great amount of expense or time ; but 

 they are considered important by the Grade A producers in maintaining a 

 high standard of quality. The clipping of the long hair on flanks and udders 

 enables them to keep the cow clean more easily and to prevent sediment 

 from falling into the milk pail. On a percentage basis about twice as many 

 Grade A producers as the B producers in Monroe were following this prac- 

 tice. They make it almost a unanimous practice to wipe the udders clean 

 before milking, and 7Z per cent of them used a damp cloth for this purpose. 

 Only 16.7 per cent of the B producers in Monroe wiped the cows' udders 

 clean before milking, and the greater portion of these used a dry cloth. How- 

 ever, they stated the cows were washed when necessary. It requires from 

 10 to 15 seconds on the average to wipe the udder clean. 



The first streams are discarded by 88.6 per cent of the Grade A pro- 

 ducers, by 70 per cent of the B producers at Pattee, and only by 29.2 per 

 cent of the B producers at Monroe. Eighteen of the A producers test the 

 first streams of each cow with a strip cup and examine it carefully for flecks 

 of garget. This is not done by any of the B producers in either group. The 

 cost of a strip cup is about $1.25. 



The importance of cooling the milk as soon as possible is realized by 

 the Grade A men ; for over 78 per cent of them strain it after each cow and 

 26.6 per cent of them place the can in the ice water before straining the milk 

 into the can. Over one-third of the B producers in Monroe placed the can 

 handy in the stable or in a room near the stable during milking time, and 

 only 8.3 per cent of them placed the can in the ice water. 



The jarring of the strainer is perhaps the one worst habit of B producers 

 Even seven of the A producers persisted in jarring the strainer on the milk 

 can so as to hurry the passage of the milk through the strainer and pad. One 

 dairyman said he had given up trying to prevent this bad habit, but he had 

 remedied the danger of breaking the pad and of getting sediment in the 

 milk can by using two thicknesses of pads on the strainer at one time. Some 

 of the quantity milk producers have added an extra strainer to their equip- 

 ment to save time. 



Washing and sterilizing: The Grade A producers outclassed the B pro- 

 ducers in Monroe on nearly all counts in washing and sterilizing the equip- 

 ment. (See Table 9.) The B producers in Monroe washed and sterilized 

 the equipment after the morning milking, but over half of them neglected 

 to sterilize the equipment after the night milking. The group of B produc- 

 ers at Pattee were following more nearly the common practices of the Grade 

 A producers. 



There was very little difference between the Grade A producers and the 

 Grade B producers in Monroe in respect to using an alkali washing powder. 

 About half of them used it regularly in the washing water. On the other 

 hand, over 88 per cent of the B producers at Pattee were using soap or soap 

 flakes when washing the equipment. The use of soap tends to increase milk 

 stone deposits on the surface of the equipment, whereas an alkali powder 

 will destroy it. Therefore, those using soap scoured the equipment more 

 frequently. It was impossible to obtain accurate information as to the 

 cost of powder or soap used yearly because it was part of the regular house- 

 hold supplies. Those producing Grade A milk scoured the equipment on an 

 average of everv 11 days, whereas the B producers at Pattee found it neces- 



