76 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



amount of work she is doing. The cow must have plenty to 

 keep her system in good condition. You cannot expect the cow 

 to get all she needs if you send her down to the pond where she 

 has to stick her muzzle through the ice in water which is cold. 

 It is necessary if the water is given out doors to warm it at least 

 to 50 or 60 degrees so that the cow will drink all she requires. 

 Impure water has a bad effect because it has a bad effect on the 

 animal, it disturbs the health and indirectly affects the «iilk se- 

 cretion. 



Now we come to the cleanliness and there, of course, a man 

 could talk all day. We want to say but little as we have not the 

 time for more and your previous speaker has brought out what 

 cleanliness means. The chief reason that milk goes to pieces, 

 gets gasy, sour, stringy, etc., is because it contains bacteria. 

 These bacteria are so small that we cannot see them and it is 

 hard to fight when we cannot see the animal. The only reason 

 we know that the milk contains bacteria is because it spoils. We 

 further know that bacteria are widely distributed throughout 

 nature; there is hardly any substance that does not contain bac- 

 teria. We find them in water, in soil, we find them on the skin, 

 on the hair and they are especially abundant in all kinds of d 1st 

 and filth and dirt. Dirt is the natural breeding place with bac- 

 teria. All those who are familiar with the production of milk 

 under ordinary conditions will know it is easy for bacteria to gain 

 admission. 



I want to say you cannot expect to produce clean milk if we 

 compel our cows to go knee deep in mire before they get into 

 their stables, their udder becoming covered. You cannot expect 

 to produce clean milk in a stable like that. A man must be 

 cleanly who is milking. He must appreciate the need of taking a 

 clean cloth and wiping the udder; he must appreciate the need 

 of washing his own hands, and he must further appreciate the 

 fact that he must draw the milk into clean utensils. We cannot 

 keep it pure unless we have clean utensils. 



Let us say a word about the straining. I think there is a 

 misconception about the straining of milk. Let us not handle the 

 milk in any old way because we are going to strain it. After the 



