ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 167 



cleaned and cared for. Too many of the above named utensils 

 receive daily a so-called Sunday wash, and the results are soon 

 seen in yellow-coated churns, foul smelling pipes and vat gates. 



The refrigerator also needs attention; too many of them 

 being mere boxes partitioned off from the rest of the building. 

 But poor as some of them are, they could be kept in a cleaner 

 condition than they are ofttimes found. The vats or receptacles 

 for skim milk or buttermilk should be examined to see that they 

 are not slighted because they are usually out of sight. No maker 

 can expect to receive first-class milk where the skim milk or 

 buttermilk returned is not clean and sanitary. The facilities on 

 the farm are usually none too good for the perfect cleaning of 

 the cans and the remedy is prevention rather than cure. To 

 show how undesirable germs or ferments may be carried from 

 day to day by the seemingly clean cans, permit me to relate an 

 incident told me by Dr. Russell. I met him on the train one 

 morning and he told me he was going to Milwaukee to visit a 

 certain large milk depot where they were having trouble with 

 their milk supply. By the use of the curd test the doctor had 

 found 30 per cent of the milk supplied unfit for use. In regard 

 to the cans he said that a gelatine plate exposed in a clean can 

 for a few seconds developed several millions of bacteria. A 

 plate exposed in this same can, after being steamed for three 

 minutes, showed a development of a few thousand 



A Swiss cheese factory in Green county had trouble with 

 its cheese. Milk was apparently good and the cheese also. But 

 some time after the cheese was found torn apart as though an 

 explosion had taken place in its interior. A cleaning up process 

 was ordered; a new floor and new whey vat to replace the old 

 barrels in common use. Still no improvement ; new rennet 

 from other factories, having no trouble, was secured, without 

 relief. Commercial rennet was used next. Sour whey from 

 another factory was secured to sour the whey, it being an idea 

 of the Swiss makers that the fat will rise more exhaustively if 

 the whey is soured. None of these efforts securing the desired 

 result, Dr. Russell was called in. After making an exhaustive 



