-^^^ Illinois State Dairymen's Associati 



on. 



tometer. It is important that milk shall be of good average 

 composition — say 4.0 per cent fat. Further than this the con- 

 sumer is but little interested. In case milk is used for making 

 butter or cheese, however, the fat content is of great importance, 

 as its value for the manufacture of these products is dependent 

 upon the amount of fat contained in it. If market milk contains 

 4 per cent of fat and 3>4 per cent solids not fat, we consider it 

 perfect in scoring. While this standard is somewhat higher than 

 the State standards for milk it gives a little encouragement to the 

 dairyman who is making an effort to serve his customers with a 

 good quality of milk. All of the samples scored perfect or 25 

 points on composition. 



Bacteria. The number of bacteria in milk serves as an in- 

 dicator — that is, if the number is high, we are safe in inferring 

 that the milk has either been produced and handled under insani- 

 tary conditions, or else it has not been properly cooled, or is too 

 old. If the number of bacteria nuis up to a million or more to 

 the cubic centimeter of milk (15 drops) it becomes dangerous as 

 a food and may cause sickness, particularly when given to child- 

 ren. Many dairymen do not realize the importance of keeping 

 the cow clean, the stables free from cobwebs, dust and flies and 

 the utensils sterilized. One fly may add a million bacteria to 

 milk, a cow hair may add 26,000 and a piece of hay, 150,000 

 more. The small top milk pail often prevents millions of bacteria 

 from getting into the milk, particularly in a dirty stable. Feed- 

 ing dry fodder just before milking has been shown in some ex- 

 periments to add 6,000 bacteria to a cubic centimeter of milk. 

 Unclean utensils, bad water, and a hundred other things contri- 

 bute to the bacterial count. Prompt and efficient cooling also is 

 important in keeping the bacterial count low. Milk kept at 50 

 degrees F. for 24 hours may contain only 89,000 bacteria to the 

 cubic centimeter, while the same milk kept at 70 degrees F. may 

 contain 4,000,000, In scoring, therefore, we take the number 

 of ba'cteria into consideration and allow 20 points if the number 

 does not exceed 10,000 to the cubic centimeter. However, if the 

 number only reaches 100,000 we consider it of fair quality. If 

 above 500,000 nothing is allowed. I congratulate the dairymen 

 entering this exhibit on the low bacterial content. There were 

 no samples that exceeded 100,000, and two were below 10,000. 

 Four samples would have passed for certified milk in New York 



