252 THE MILK QUESTION 



vantages of having special milkers who soon become accus- 

 tomed to all the details of the work. If the milker has to 

 sneeze, cough, or clear his throat, he should do so in an 

 approved sanitary manner and take care that none of 

 the spray which is ejected in coughing, sneezing, etc., 

 gets into the milk. 



Both the hands of the milker and the teats of the cow 

 must be kept dry when milking. In good dairy practice wet 

 milking is absolutely forbidden. In obtaining certified 

 milk the hands must be rinsed, washed, and dried after 

 each cow is milked. This may not be necessary in ordinary 

 practice, but is advisable. 



The milkers should wear clean white suits and caps. 

 The suits should be laundered frequently, but better and 

 cheaper than the laundry is to steam them once a day. 

 When not in use the suits should be kept in a clean, ventil- 

 ated place, and under no circumstances should be hung in 

 the dwelling. They must be protected from dust, vermin, 

 and infection. 



The first three or four streams from each teat, known as 

 the fore milk, should be drawn into a separate vessel and 

 discarded. This is the portion of the milk richest in 

 bacteria. 



The milker should carefully watch the flow from each 

 quarter of the udder and if it is bloody, stringy, or otherwise 

 unnatural the entire yield from that cow should be rejected. 

 If dirt gets into the milk or any accident occurs which 

 might injure it, the entire contents of the pail should be 

 discarded and the pail washed and sterilized before it is 

 again used. 



Milking-machines. Considerable ingenuity has been ex- 

 pended to devise a suction apparatus which will take the 

 place of the hands. Some milking-machines do their work 

 very well. To be successful, however, any innovation must 

 increase efficiency or decrease cost; still better if it does 

 both. When kept scrupulously clean and intelligently oper- 



