XIX SPECIAL PURE MILK METHODS 353 



should neither have nor come in contact with any contagious 

 disease while employed in handling the milk. In case of any 

 illness in the person or family of any employee in the dairy, such 

 employee must absent himself from the dairy until a physician 

 certifies that it is safe for him to return. 



In order that the Milk Commission may be informed as to the 

 health of the employees at the certified farms, the Commission has 

 had postal cards printed, to be supplied to the farms and to be 

 filled out and returned each week by the owner, manager, or 

 physician of the farm, certifying that none are handling the milk 

 who are in contact with any contagious disease. 



Before milking, the hands should be washed in warm water 

 with soap and nail brush and well dried with a clean towel. On 

 no account should the hands be wet during milking. 



The milkers should have light-coloured, washable suits, includ- 

 ing caps, and not less than two clean suits weekly. The garments 

 should be kept in a clean place protected from dust, when not 

 in use. 



Iron milking stools are recommended and they should be kept 

 clean. 



Milkers should do their work quietly and at the same hour 

 morning and evening. Jerking the teat increases materially the 

 bacterial contamination of the milk and should be forbidden. 



6. Helpers other than Milkers. — All persons engaged in the 

 stable and dairy should be reliable and intelligent. Children 

 under twelve should not be allowed in the stable or dairy during 

 milking, since in their ignorance they may do harm, and from 

 their liability to contagious diseases they are more apt than older 

 persons to transmit them through the milk. 



7. Small Animals. — Cats and dogs must be excluded from the 

 stables during the time of milking, and fowls at all times. Ko 

 animals allowed in dairy. 



8. The Milk. — All milk from cows sixty days before and ten 

 days after calving must be rejected. 



The first few streams from each teat should be discarded, in 

 order to free the milk ducts from the milk that has remained in 

 them for some time and in which the bacteria are sure to have 

 multiplied greatly. If any part of the milk is bloody or stringy or 

 unnatural in appearance, the whole quantity yielded by that 

 animal must be rejected. If any accident occurs in which a pail 

 becomes dirty or the milk in the pail becomes dirty, do not try to 

 remove the dirt by straining, but put aside the pail and do not use 

 the milk for bottling, and use a clean pail. 



Eemove the milk of each cow from the stable immediately 

 after it is obtained to a clean room and strain through a sterilised 

 strainer of cheese-cloth and absorbent cotton. 



2a 



