TEB AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



293 



rough production. Little or no attention 

 is paid to the cleansingof the cows'indders 

 or Native milkers before the operation of 

 milking commences. The washing of the 

 milk buckets and cans is of the most 

 perfunctory character, and the carriage of 

 the milk in open carts through the broiling 

 sun to the Creamery is expected to have 

 no bad effect whatever. And, finally, 

 when the milk is condemned at the 

 factory as unfit for use, or only suitable 

 for separating, Oh ! what harmony fills 

 the air. And yet no one is to blame but 

 the man who shouts his grievances in 

 your ear. 



If you talk to him about aeration he 

 tells you that he kept cows, and supplied 

 the City and elsewhere with the finest 

 quality of butter before you were 

 born, and doesn't see what good an 

 aerator can do. If you suggest mildly 

 that perhaps his can might not 

 have been sufficiently sterilized be- 

 fore the milk was poured into them, 

 he evinces the greatest indignation. If 

 you enquire cautiously and carefully into 

 the manner and style of his milking and 

 creaming business, you find nine times 

 out of ten that he is not adopting one of 

 the many necessary precautions adopted, 

 as a matter of course, by farmers of conn- 

 tries which are becoming our strongest 

 rivals. 



As I have said, the danger of the dairy- 

 ing industry in Natal lies not with the 

 Creameries, who are sparing no expense 

 to make their part of the businessi mo'e 

 perfect, but with the suppliers — men who 

 expect the Creameries to purchase un- 

 limited quantities of milk from them, of 

 course at top prices, quite indifferent as 

 to whether it is saleable again or not. 



During the past numl)er of years the 

 subject of aeration of milk and cream hiis 

 received a good deal of attention. All 

 suppliers of a factory should "cool" the 

 milk as quickly as possible, but if the 

 milk is not properly cooled it frequently 

 arrives at the factorj' unfit for use. To 

 overcame this defect aerators have been 

 obtained which not only cool the milk 

 but thoroughly expose it to the atmos- 

 phere. By_ aerating the milk animal 

 odours and' bad flavours escape. The 

 operation, however, must be done in a 

 h'weet, clean place, or the milk will only 



be inoculated with foul germs. This 

 cannot be impressed too firmly in the 

 minds of the farmers. Milk which has 

 been properly aerated will keep much 

 longer than milk which has not been so 

 treated, for not only does the aerating 

 allow the gasses and bad odours to escape, 

 but it is found by experience to improve 

 the flavour of the milk. 



The great cause, however, of bad milk 

 is dirt, the cow sheds are unclean, the 

 milk pails are unclean, and the milker 

 himself is generally far from clean. 



Suppliers of milk, etc., to Creameries 

 require a deal of educating, and it is the 

 Creameries which will ha\e to educate 

 them. The supplier has his share of the 

 work in producing a good article by 

 properly caring for the milk or cream 

 until it arrives at the factory, and 

 while his intentions may be good he 

 must not feel indignant when the 

 factory manager points out to him that 

 he has unconsciously erred, and how he 

 has erred. The aim of every supplier 

 should be first-class milk or cream, and 

 great care should be taken that no other 

 kind is sent ; towards this object proper 

 aeration will be found a great help. 

 Another matter that requires better at- 

 tention is the straining of the milk. Of 

 course, if the cows' udders were first 

 properly cleaned and only clean milkers 

 allowed to milk into irreproachable 

 buckets, not much foreign matter would 

 drift into the milk, but such is not the 

 rale, and the straining rags in evidence 

 in too many dairies speak eloqu<nitly as 

 to the condition of the milk when it 

 passed through them in its futile efforts 

 to be purified. It seems almost super- 

 fiuous to say that all milk strainers 

 should be scrupulously clean and scalded 

 thoroughly each time after using. 



I think it will be admitted that I am 

 interested in the welfare of the Natal 

 farmer, I am not prejudiced against him, 

 and I would not say anything against 

 him were it not brought out by actual 

 fact. In the foregoing remarks I have 

 been very lenient with him, and I hope 

 my consideration for his feelings will be 

 rewarded by his paying a greater per- 

 sonal attention to his milk and milking, 

 and do all he can to forward the success 

 of what may yet be a great industry. 



