HOUSING AND CARE OF COWS 93: 



out flies. Water may be run in the feeding gutter of cement floors,. 

 before feeding time, or supplied in iron vessels raised from the floor. 



Before sweeping the barn floor it should be sprinkled to avoid 

 dust, and neither sweeping nor removal of manure should be done 

 within half an hour of milking — to prevent contamination of the. 

 air. While most of the germs in milk come from dirt on the cow, 

 nevertheless there is also danger of contamination from dust in the 

 barn. For this reason a good way is to keep a barn, built with 

 cement floors, entirely for milking purposes. The floors are 

 sprinkled and the cows only driven in the building at milking time 

 and removed immediately after. In the air of the ordinary barn 

 germs are fifty per cent, more abundant, owing to the dust in the 

 air, than in a school room at the close of the day. 



It is advisable to have a number of box stalls for sick animals, 

 for cows about to have calf, and for calves. These should be 

 in a separate stable, because contagious diseases may thus be kept 

 away from the rest of the herd, as contagious abortion, for instance. 



A milk receiving room in the stable is useful, in which the 

 milk from separate cows may be weighed and recorded before the. 

 milk is -carried to the milk room. (See Appendix, page 320.) 



The most suitable bedding for cows in the production of clean 

 milk consists either of shavings from kiln dried lumber (which 

 have, in the process of kiln drying, been sterilized), or sawdust,. 

 or straw. 



We have been laying down ideal rather than the essential re- 

 quirements in the housing of cattle to secure clean milk. Suppose 

 we take an ordinary barn. The hay is probably stored over the 

 cows. If this is so, then either the hay must be removed, and also 

 the ceiling over the cows, or the ceiling must be made dust-tight and 

 the hay never removed before milking time, to avoid dust. It is. 

 probable that there are not enough windows. More windows, or, 

 better, a continuous row of windows, should be put in. There will' 



