﻿18 BULLETIN 1, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



the very smallest fill the bottles from a large dipper or pitcher. In 

 the last few years capping machines have been perfected so that the 

 bottles may be filled and capped without being touched by human 

 hands. This is a decided advantage, as the old method of placing 

 the caps in the bottles by hand was liable to result in serious con- 

 tamination. Practically all of the certified establishments sterilize 

 the caps which are used in the milk bottles. This sterilization is best 

 accomplished by dry heat, as steam is apt to swell the paper caps so 

 that they do not fit the capping machine or the neck of the bottle. 

 The caps are placed in a small cylinder or rolled in brown paper and 

 placed in dry ovens, where they are heated for about an hour. 



Practically all certified-milk dairies now use some sort of an out- 

 side cover to protect the mouth of the bottle from being infected 

 with dust or dirty water. A variety of appliances for this purpose 

 are in use, some of which are shown in Plate V. 



TRANSPORTATION AND DELIVERY. 



Great care is taken to see that certified milk is always kept cold. 

 It is cooled in the dairies by ice water, brine, or direct expansion 

 almost down to the freezing point, and from that time until it is 

 delivered to the consumer it is kept well packed in ice to prevent the 

 multiplication of bacteria. 



The distribution of certified milk is done in some cases by the pro- 

 ducer, but very often the producer ships to some retailer in the city, 

 who handles the product for him. 



Some certified dairies maintain laboratories in charge of physicians 

 or trained nurses where certified milk is modified for infant feeding 

 according to plrysicians' prescriptions. The modified milk is put up 

 in nursing bottles, sufficient feedings for one day being prepared at a 

 time and delivered to the consumer in a refrigerator case. 



INFORMATION SECURED FROM PRODUCERS. 



In order to secure accurate data relative to the production of cer- 

 tified milk, a list of questions was sent to owners and operators of 

 certified-milk farms. Answers were received from a large number. 

 It was found that quite a number had discontinued the production of 

 certified milk for one reason or another, several having stopped 

 because of the lack of sufficient markets for their product or because 

 the production was attended with financial loss. Answers to the 

 questions were received from 92 dairies, distributed among 17 States. 



NUMBER AND BREED OF COWS. 



The number of cows in herds producing certified milk varies from 

 9 to 600. It was found that the average number of cows in certified 

 dairies was 88. Practically every breed is represented in these herds. 



