ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 231 



an abrasion on hands or teats cause ugly sores. Smoking or 

 any use of tohacco while milking should never be tolerated, and 

 clothing impregnated with the odor of tobacco should be 

 discarded. 



THE STABLE. 



The place where the herd is kept and its care are second in 

 importance only to the health of the animals. Infection from 

 stable air can be largely avoided by using special care in feeding 

 and cleaning. The air should not be full of dust at milking 

 time. Some advocate the use of a special room for milking only. 

 The effect of milking in pure air is shown by an experiment in 

 which a cow was milked in an open field on a damp morning 

 when the air was clear, and it was found that her milk 

 contained only a few bacteria in the same volume which, under 

 ordinary conditions in the stable, contained many hundred. No- 

 dusty food should be fed just previous to milking. If it is be- 

 lieved to be necessary for the cows to be eating at milking time, 

 they may be given a moist feed then and the dry fodder used 

 after milking. The animals and stables should be cleaned early 

 and the stable well ventilated before milking is commenced. In 

 a light, dry building, in hot weather, it is well to sprinkle the 

 floor to settle the dust and lower the temperature. 



Moldy hay or straw must not be used for bedding cows, as the 

 special bacteria which they carry are liable to produce harmful 

 changes in the milk. Clean straw or new shavings make the 

 best bedding. In many places dry shavings from planing mills 

 can be obtained at a trifling cost; in some cases they are in such 

 demand for this purpose as to be bailed, shipped, and sold for 

 four or five dollars a ton. Coarse stuffs for bedding are unsatis- 

 factory, as they are usually poor absorbents and are uncomfort- 

 able for the animals and difficult to handle. No sensible dairy- 

 man will attempt to economize by using the refuse from the 

 horse stalls for bedding cows. Clean sand is found to be a fairly 

 good absorbent, but, like sawdust, it gets into the hair and 

 makes extra work in cleaning. 



