98 



BACTERIA IN MILK 



Wiping the udders with a damp cloth previous to milking 

 reduced the bacterial count from 7,058 to 716 per c.cm. Sim- 

 ilar results are also reported by Harrison.^* Orr ^^ exposed 

 plates of nutrient medium for two minutes during milking and 

 afterwards incubated them for four days at 20° C. The results 

 are given in Table XXXVIII. 



Table XXXVIII 



The practice of moistening the hands of the milkers by the 

 first milk streams was shown by Backhaus to increase the bac- 

 terial count from 5600 to 9000 per c.cm. The effect of the 

 character of the litter and the food employed is very marked 

 as is also that of the influence of time of feeding. The ten- 

 dency of the litter to dust formation is a factor in this direction. 



