102 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



than before or during milking time, because the 

 odor of these foods taints the milk. 



Keeping cows and udders clean. The udder 

 and flanks should be wiped with a damp cloth 

 immediately before milking, so that dust and 

 dirt will not be constantly falling into the milk 

 pail. It has been demonstrated that twenty 

 times as much dirt falls into the bucket when 

 the udder is in a soiled condition as when it is 

 wiped with a damp cloth, and one hundred times 

 as much when the udder is dirty as when it has 

 been kept clean. 



Milk a food product. Cows should have ample 

 bedding, but this bedding should not be dis- 

 turbed immediately before milking, since such a 

 practice will cause the air to be filled with small 

 particles of dust, a large number of which will 

 find their way into the milk pail. 



The dairyman should always bear in mind that 

 in handling milk he is dealing with a food 

 product. Therefore, if any of his cows are 

 diseased or in ill health, or give gargety milk 

 or bloody milk, this milk should not be used 

 for human consumption. Colostrum milk, or the 

 milk which a cow secretes immediately after 

 calving, should not, of course, be used for four 

 or five days, or until the milk has become nor- 

 mal; nor should cow's milk be used for the 

 thirty days immediately before calving. 



