22 



How TO Produce Clean Milk. 



[Apr., 



cows are at pasture day and night it is easy to keep these parts 

 clean but when they are in the cowshed during the night it 

 may be very difficult indeed. Much depends on the construc- 

 tion of the floor of the stall. Where the cowshed has single 

 or double stalls of such a length that the manure falls into a 

 fairly deep gutter, or where some other method is adopted to 

 prevent the cow fouling the rear part of the stall, the cows will 

 be much cleaner than where the cowshed has neither stall parti- 

 tions (travises), raised standings nor gutters. On the other 

 hand, if the removal of the manure be attended to frequently, 

 ample litter provided and the cows groomed daily or before each 

 milking if necessary, exceptionally clean milk can be produced 

 in a very badly constructed cowshed. 



The cleaning of the hind quarters, flanks, etc., will be made 

 much easier if these parts are clipped by means of horse clippers 

 when the cows begin to lie in overnight. The udder may also 

 be clipped, but the objection is often raised that this will lead 

 to cold in the udder, bad quarters and other troubles. In several 

 herds well kno\^ai to the writer, the udders have been clipped 

 every winter for from two to eight years and there have been 

 no bad results. In any case, the long locks of hair often found 

 on the udders of newly calved cows should be removed when 

 milking is recommenced. These long locks often get very dirty 

 and, when included in the hands in the grasping of the teats, 

 cause contamination of the milk and kicking or restlessness on 

 the part of the cow. 



Immediately preceding milking, the flanks, if dirty, should be 

 washed clean by means of a brush and water; the udder and teat& 

 should always be washed and. when necessary, the loose moisture 

 dried off afterwards by a clean cloth. Clean water should be 

 obtained from time to time as required. It is most important 

 that the sole of the udder and adjacent parts should be made 

 clean, because it is from these parts that hairs, dust and dirt 

 fall downwards into the milking pail. The writer has often 

 found cows which appeared to have been thoroughly cleaned, 

 yet close examination showed that the slight hollows between 

 the teats and sometimes the left flanks and sides of the udder 

 were dirty. It is not sufficient occasionally to wipe the udder 

 and teats with a moist cloth when sitting down to milk; this 

 may at first moisten the hair of the udder and prevent the 

 loosening of particles of dust, but the udder soon becomes 

 filled with hot milk, both skin and hair are quickly dried, and 

 when the udder is shaken during the process of stripping, loose 



