MILK AND CEEAM CONTESTS. 23 



chemical composition in milk it is necessary to mix the entire milk 

 from one or more cows. 



ACIDITY. 



The presence of acid-forming bacteria in milk in large numbers is 

 usually responsible for a high acidity. It may be that there are other 

 factors which play an important part in the acidity of milk, but at the 

 present time they are not well understood. To keep down the acidity 

 of milk caused by acid-forming bacteria it is necessary to keep the 

 bacterial count as low as possible by following the precautionary 

 measures previously mentioned. To check the growth of bacteria 

 the milk should be thoroughly iced from the time of milking until it 

 is scored. 



BOTTLE AND CAP. 



It is best to select bottles which are made of clear glass and which 

 are free from flaws and other imperfections. The bottles should be 

 filled up to the cap seat with the milk or cream. The cap should fit 

 the mouth of the bottle tight enough to prevent leakage but not so 

 tight that it wiU have to be jammed in order to force it into place. 

 When it is in place melted parafiin may be poured on it, taking care 

 to fiU the depression in which the cap rests. The bottle top may be 

 protected by waterproof material, such as oiled or paraffined paper, 

 tin or tin-foil caps, etc. The most common cut against the appear- 

 ance of the bottle and cap has been made because either the bottles 

 have not been fiUed or because the cap and the mouth of the bottle 

 were not properly protected. The protection of the mouth of the 

 bottle is important not only from the standpoint of appearance but 

 because iced cases of bottles are piled one above the other and often 

 the dirty water resulting from the mixture of dust and melted ice 

 trickles down upon the bottles. 



