UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 973 



Washington, D. C. 



June 5, 1923 



MILK-PUNT OPERATION. 



By Clarence E. Clement, Mmket Milk Specialist, Dairy Division, 

 Bureau of Animal Industry. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



The need for technica; iknowledge 1 



Receiving milk at the plant 2 



Grading, sampling, and testing 3 



Pasteurizing and cooUng 4 



Control of pasteurizing temperature 5 



Checking accuracy of holders 6 



Coohng 7 



Bottling and capping 7 



Man-hmir requirements for bottling milk 7 



Comparison of labor costs in filling and cap- 

 ping by various methods 11 



Washing bo ttles 16 



Man-hour requirements for washing bottles. . 18 



Comparison of costs in washing bottles 20 



Washing cans 25 



Page. 



Sanitation in city milk plants 25 



Wastes incurredin handUng milk 28 



Miik-bottle losses 29 



Goods returned from deUvery routes 32 



Shrinkage in handling milk 33 



Checking milk through the plant 34 



Cheesing goods handled at plant 34 



ChecKing the driver 36 



ChccKing the receiving and shipping clftrks. . 36 



Number of menrequired to operate milk plants . 38 



Systems of buying milk 39 



Disposal of surplus milk 42 



Manufacture of by-products 44 



Weights of milk and cream 44 



THE NEED FOR TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE. 



The successful operation of a milk plant requires, besides general 

 ability, considerable technical knowledge and training. New milk 

 plants are constantly being established, especially by organizations 

 of producers or of producers and small dealers, and the question of 

 management is of considerable importance. The success of new 

 milk plants iLsually depends to a large degree on the manager; and 

 capable managers are often difficult to find. Sometimes men can be 

 obtained who have tlie proper personality and general business 

 ability but lack the technical knowledge for successfully managing 

 a milk plant. The purpose of tliis bulletin is to give such men, as 

 well as men who are ah-eady in the business, information regarding 

 methods used in operating milk plants successfully. 



The construction, arrangement, and equipment of milk plants 

 have been considered in previous publications issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture.^ Certain information regarding operation was 

 also included in these publications. This bulU^tin describes l^riefly 

 the various operations in somewhat the same order as they occur in 

 the ordinary city milk plant. 



1 U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 849, "City Milk Plants, Construction and Arrangement," ^ 

 and U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 890, "MUk-Plant Equipment." 



28554°— 23— Bull. 97 



