THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. ',; 59 



fodder put three times as many in. Not stripping the cow thor- 

 oughly seemed to increase the number of bacteria in the next 

 milking. Different milkers showed a big variation in the num- 

 ber of bacteria in the milk drawn by them, some men producing 

 milk with only one-third as many bacteria under similar con- 

 ditions. Boiled water in which the milker washed his hands 

 before milking was shown to contain 45,000,000 bacteria per 

 cubic centimeter. All of these and many more figures might be 

 given to emphasize the importance of this part of the work. 



Cows should have ample bedding, but this bedding should 

 not be disturbed immediately before milking, inasmuch as that 

 will cause the air to be filled with small particles of dust, a large 

 share of which will find its way into the milk bucket. 



The dairyman should always bear in mind that in handling 

 milk he is dealing with a food product. Therefore, if any of 

 his cows should be diseased or in ill health, or give gargety milk 

 or bloody milk, this milk should not be used for human con- 

 sumption. The milk which the cow secretes immediately after 

 calving should not ,of course, be used for four or five days, or 

 until the milk has become normal ; nor should cow's milk be used 

 for the thirty days immediately before calving. 



Under ordinary farm conditions, I would recommend the 

 use of a small top milk pail. An opening six inches in diameter 

 exposes approximately one-fourth as much surface to collect 

 dirt as does a pail with an opening or top of 12 inches. If the 

 small opening is not quite vertical so that the milk enters the pail 

 from the side, still less dirt will get in. Having taken these pre- 

 cautions to secure clean milk, it should be removed immediately 

 from the barn and not poured from the vessel to another in air 

 laden with odors from the manure and dust from the feed. 



The air in the barn should be as pure and fresh as in a sani- 

 tary home. Such systems are provided for. I will refer to one 

 of many, the King System of ventilating; the air is taken in 

 from the outside of the barn near the ground, passes up through 

 an air space in the wall and is released near the ceiling. Thiis 

 method not only prevents draught, it forces the bad odors on to 



