146 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



The question of the feeds which can safely be used in a model 

 dairy is one of decided interest. Large companies which buy 

 their milk and have an established reputation for their output 

 have learned by experience that certain feeds may sometimes be 

 used in such conditions as to taint the milk, and some of them 

 treat the difficulty with, what would be called in medicine, a 

 shot-gun remedy, they prohibit altogether a long list of excellent 

 feed stuffs, such as ensilage, brewer's grains, cotton-seed meal 

 and gluten. A dairy supplying a large and particular city trade 

 feeds ensilage the entire year and the milk gives good satisfac- 

 tion, very many dairies use this feed in the winter, and the other 

 feeds named are used as successfully. If a certain food is sup- 

 posed to give flavor to the milk, it may sometimes be used with- 

 out bad effect if fed immediately after milking, thus giving time 

 for its flavor or odor to be out of the stable and the cow's system 

 before the next milking. 



The health of employes of a dairy is also important, one 

 having any kind of a contagious disease or sores should not be 

 permitted to work about the herd or the milk, and if a contagious 

 disease appears on a dairy farm there should be no communica- 

 tion between the house and the dairy until all danger is past and 

 the building has been properly disinfected. 



A dairy may usually be fairly judged by the general condition 

 of cleanliness that obtains. We frequently hear of the almost 

 immaculate cleanliness of dairies in some parts of Europe, es- 

 pecially Holland, where the stable and house are under the same 

 roof and the dilligent housewife takes as great pride' in the cow 

 stable as in any part of the house. There are dairies in this 

 country which are kept equally well. Cleanliness is their motto 

 and it is observed in every particular. Every cow is curried and 

 brushed daily and the udder and lower parts are always brushed 

 just before milking. For this latter a damp cloth is recommend- 

 ed, so the dirt which is not removed will be moistened and less 

 apt to be shaken off during milking. Care should be taken not 

 to make the parts too wet or drops of impure water will fall into 

 the pail; it is also necessary to use care lest the cow take cold 

 by the operation. 



