COMPOSITION OF MILK. 19 
ent processes of which are now in use in this country) these 
gases can, to a large extent, be eliminated. The amount and 
kind of taints existing in milk, immediately after it has been 
drawn, largely depend upon the food which the cow has been 
fed. Turnips, onions, and garlic, when fed to cows a short 
time before milking, cause undesirable gases or taints to exist 
in the milk. Good sweet hay, bran, and good grass are said 
to produce milk of superior quality, and containing no bad 
taints, except the cowy or animal taste, which is natural to 
all milk when first drawn. 
The milk yielded by cows pasturing in the Alps of Switzer- 
land is said by tourists to possess a peculiar, not undesirable, 
spicy odor and flavor. It is maintained by the native people 
in Switzerland that the peculiar flavor of the Emmanthaler 
cheese cannot be developed anywhere else in the world. This 
flavor they believe to be due to the kind of vegetation the 
cows feed upon in the Alpine pastures. In Denmark, the 
poor people who do not own much land, graze their cows along 
the roads where weeds of different kinds grow. Milk from 
such cows has a peculiar characteristic odor or taint. In this 
country it is a common occurrence to find that milk delivered 
by patrons who keep their cows on timber-land pastures has 
a peculiar weedy odor. Especially is this true in the fall or 
late summer. These flavors are somewhat difficult to remove 
by the ordinary process of aeration. By heating such milk 
to 160° or 180° F., and stirring occasionally, most of these 
taints pass off. An addition of a small amount of saltpeter 
also improves it. 
Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the food that 
the cows receive. While it is true that much of the desirable 
aroma and flavor in butter are due to bacterial growth, the 
kind of food fed to cows is not without significance. It is 
a well known fact that districts such as Normandy and 
Denmark, which have become famous for their high quality 
of dairy products, have the best of pasture and winter 
feeds. 
