266 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



tice of a few milkers of sticking their fingers into the milk to 

 dampen the teats is to be condemned. The milker's hands should 

 be washed clean before he begins to milk and loose dirt, hairs, 

 etc., should be brushed from the clothing. Whenever milking is 

 done near the roadside from which a cloud of dust may be sent 

 by a gust of wind into the milk and onto the milker, both bacteria 

 and dirt are added to the milk. Dust that flies into the air dur- 

 ing the time of throwing down hay, straw, etc., will contribute 

 its share in assisting the milk to lose its good quaHties. Festoons 

 of cobwebs and dust-covered joists add to the dirt sources al- 

 readv named. 



Persons using an open milk pail expect to remove all dirt by 

 straining through a fine wire screen or through a few thick- 

 nesses of thin goods. Since the most harmful dirt that enters 

 milk is dissolved, it is quite as impossible to remove it by strain- 

 ing as it would be to strain the salt out of water in which it has 

 been dissolved. After reasonable care has been taken to have 

 the cow clean, and the milker and place of milking have been 

 given attention, the partially covered milk pail should be used. 

 Some dairymen use a milk pail having a fine wire screen which 

 fits into the top; on this screen is placed a layer of surgeon's cot- 

 ton. This layer of cotton prevents air circulation and the en- 

 trance of the smallest particles of dust and dirt. 



The introduction of bacteria into the soil may do harm or 

 much good, depending upon what kinds are introduced. The in- 

 troduction of bacteria into milk or cream may assist or prevent 

 the bringing about of some desirable or undesirable result, de- 

 pending upon the kind of bacteria allowed or encouraged to grow. 

 Apples rot because bacteria of one kind enter through 

 the broken skin; meat spoils from being attacked by bacteria; 

 and milk sours from the increase of bacteria that are so easily 

 introduced from the dirt that falls from the warm air that circu- 

 lates over the pail. Neither harmful nor helpful bacteria can 

 multiply rapidly, if at all, unless temperature conditions are prop- 

 er. Much heat will destroy them or cold will check their multi- 

 T)lication. Milk that is kept where the temperature is low, say 40 



