176 MILK HYGIENE 



milking and by not allowing the residues to accumulate 

 in or about the stable. 



Frasier *^ has shown by some tests made with milk 

 from cows fed silage of good quality that no objection- 

 able flavor or odor was imparted to the milk either when 

 the silage was fed before, during, or after milking. In- 

 deed, in 372 tests made, silage milk was preferred in 

 233, or 60 per cent. L.P.J 



A further demand in reference to herds supplying 

 nursery milk should be established — ^that frequent and 

 sudden changes in food should be forbidden, as the com- 

 position of the milk immediately after such a change is 

 often materially altered, and it is more probable that 

 when the udder is " surprised " by such a sudden 

 change the secretory function is thrown out of equilib- 

 rium and abnormal, and possibly injurious, substances 

 are secreted with the milk. 



c. Cleanliness in the stable and during milking. In 

 order to guard, so far as possible, during milking, 

 against pollution with dirt and, at the same time, with 

 bacteria, the most thorough cleanliness of the cows and 

 the stable, and care on the part of the milkers, is to be 

 desired. However, it is very difficult to establish detailed 

 regulations in this respect, and no less difficult to en- 

 force them. We usually find that the regulations under 

 this heading are confined to the concisely stated orders 

 that cows and stables must be kept clean ; that, at milk- 

 ing, the greatest possible cleanliness must be observed 

 and that, just before milking, the udder and teats are to 

 be washed. 



However, where the conditions permit the establish- 

 ment of more detailed regulations, as in the larger milk 



*^ Wilber J. Frasier, Bulletin No. 101, Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1905. 



