364 Bacteria in Relation to Country Life 



to a very marked extent, for the germs are more readily 

 washed off thereby from the hands as well as from the 

 cow's udder. 



Similarly, the garments of the milker may serve as a 

 serious source of contamination, especially in ill-kept 

 dairies where the milkers take no pains to keep their 

 clothing clean. In fact, the garments set aside for the 

 work in the barn are frequently indescribably filthy and 

 weighed down by dried manure and other dirt. More- 

 over, the milker may occasionally contaminate the milk 

 not only with lactic acid or other harmless bacteria, but, 

 also, with disease germs, among them those of tubercu- 

 losis, typhoid and diphtheria. 



Progressive dairies attempt to eliminate the milker 

 as a source of contamination by compelling him to wash 

 his hands, not only at the beginning of each milking, 

 but, also, after the milking of individual cows. Clean 

 milking-suits are supplied daily, and all care is taken 

 to exclude those men from the barn who are suffering 

 from any contagious disease. There is no doubt that 

 the greater care for the health and appearance of the 

 milkers in high-grade dairies is partly instrumental in 

 enabling them to produce milk of high quality and to 

 secure a high price for their products. 



The utensils. — The thorough cleaning of milk pails is 

 not a simple matter. Mere rinsing in luke-warm or even 

 hot water is not sufficient to destroy the microorganisms 

 in the creases of the pail, or even on the exposed portions. 

 Investigations have shown that the slimy substances 

 that accumulate in the ci eases of the pail may contain 

 500,000 to 50,000,000 microorganisms per gram of 



