ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 189 



It was determined after several trials with three different milkers 

 on thirty cows that it requires an average of 4y 2 minutes to milk a cow. 

 A glazed dish eleven inches in diameter, the size of an ordinary milk pail, 

 was placed in the top of a pail and held under a cow's udder in the same 

 position as when milking. For iy 2 minutes the milker then went through 

 motions similar to those made in milking but without drawing any milk. 

 The amount of dirt which fell into the dish during the operation was, of 

 course, approximately the same as would have gone into the milk during 

 the milking proces. The dirt caught in the dish was then brushed into 

 a small glass weighing tube, the udder washed and the process repeated. 

 The dirt which fell from the washed udder was also carefully brushed into 

 a weighing tube. Both tubes were then placed in a desiccator and after 

 drying twenty-four hours were accurately weighed on a chemical balance. 



Sixty trials were made at different seasons of the year. With udders 

 that were apparently clean it was found that an average of 3^ times as 

 much dirt fell from the unwashed udders as from the same udders after 

 they were washed. With soiled udders the average was 22 and with 

 muddy udders the average was 94 times as much dirt from the unwashed 

 udders as from the same udders after washing. 



Barn and Stables. 



Costly barns or stables are not essential to the production of clean 

 milk or to the maintenance of a dairy herd at its highest efficiency. To 

 obtain the best results it is important, however, that the cows be kept 

 comfortable at all times. To do this there are several essentials with 

 which a barn must be provided. It must have a roof that does not leak; 

 sides that do not allow the wind to blow through; and doors that will 

 close tightly. 



Many barns are not provided with any system of ventilation whatever, 

 as but few dairymen realize that pure air is just as essential to the eco- 

 nomic production of untainted milk as is the feed a cow consumes. Diges- 

 tion and assimilation, like the burning of coal but if the drafts are kept 

 combustion. The stove may be filled with coal but if the drafts are kept 

 tightly closed the coal will not burn, as sufficient oxygen is not provided. 

 Neither can a cow's feed be properly digested and assimilated without an 



