ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 241 



lowing it to fall through the air in fine streams or a spray. A 

 milk pail with small punctures in the bottom and held a few feet 

 above a larger receptacle answers for this purpose. Special ap- 

 paratus is made to operate in the same way. 



By other contrivances the air is carried to the bottom of the 

 vessel, whence it rises through the milk in bubbles, bringing out 

 with it the objectionable gases, until they are mostly removed. 

 This requires from one to five minutes, and is done by a concave 

 plunger or by a pipe and bellows. With the later arrangement 

 air can be filtered through cotton to free it from impurities be- 

 fore it is introduced into the milk. Certain aerators are con- 

 structed so that the milk passes over them in a thin layer and is 

 thus exposed to the air. These are referred to in connection 

 with cooling. 



Here again the necessity of fresh, pure air must be empha- 

 sized. It is better to omit aeration entirely than to attempt it 

 in a stable or a close, foul place. As with other work in the 

 dairy, promptness is necessary in aerating if best results are 

 sought. The aerator should be large enough to care for the milk 

 as fast as it is brought from the cows. Even thotigh it may be 

 intended to use the morning's milk immediately, it should be 

 aerated the same as nighfs milk. 



Experiments conducted by private enterprise seem to show 

 that even the strong odor of garlic, which gives so much trouble 

 and causes great losses in certain districts every spring and fall, 

 can be entirely removed by heating milk and aerating it while 

 hot. It is explained that the volatile oil, carrying the disagree- 

 able odor, is liberated by heat and carried away by the fresh air. 

 This process necessitates the pasteurization of the milk, which 

 is far less objectioaable than having a garlic flavor in the butter, 

 and may even be beneficial to the product. 



Much taint can be prevented by cleanliness. The so-called 

 ''animal" or ''cowy" odor is generally to be attributed, not to 

 natural milk, but to the exterior of the cow from which it is 

 taken, or to the unclean person who does the milking, or to 



