1922.] 



hairs and dust are detached and fall on the top of the milk. 

 Observant milkers have often noticed that a paill'iil of milk 

 which appeared clean has, after stripping, received a thin cover- 

 ing of brownish particles. The cleaning previous to milking 

 should bo so thorough that this carmot hcii)pen. 



MiUiituj. — After cleaning the cows, the milkers should wash 

 (lieir hands and proceed to milk. If overalls are provided for 

 wearing during milking, so nuicli the better, but they are not 

 essential. A pail or basin of water, with soap and towel, should 

 be provided at a convenient place, so that the milkers may wash 

 their hands before commencing to milk each cow. The opening 

 at the end of the teat may contain particles of dirt and a con- 

 siderable number of germs, hence it is desirable that the first 

 two or three streams of milk from each teat should be ch-awn on 

 to the floor of the stall or gutter or into a small pail used only 

 for this purpose. If drawn on to the floor of the stall, this milk 

 should be w^ashed away after milking so that the litter or floor 

 of the stall may be sw^eet and clean — otherwise harmful germs 

 may grow and ultimately find their way into the teats and thence 

 to the udder when the cow lies down. Where the rear part of 

 the stall has a porous floor which cannot be properly washed, it 

 it is advisable always to collect the first few streams into a pail; 

 this milk may be used for calves and pigs. When a large herd 

 of cows has to be cleaned and milked, it may be found most 

 economical in labour to make one boy or man responsible for 

 all the washing and drawing of the foi'e milk. 



It is necessary here to discuss briefly the question of wet or 

 dry milking. The custom, so prevalent in the South of England, 

 of moistening the hands vnth milk occasionally to make teats 

 cind hands more pliable, is always objectionable, especially so 

 when the teats and udders have not been cleaned. At the same 

 time, it must be recognised that where one or more of the teats 

 are small or do not deliver the milk in an even stream, it is 

 well-nigh impossible to prevent some milk getting on to the hands ; 

 also, milkers who at other times are engaged in hard manual 

 labour undoubtedly feel the need of some lubricant to make the 

 hands more flexible for the operation of milking. This need is 

 still greater in the case of cows vrhicli have thick-skinned teats or 

 are hard to milk for other reasons. 



Much of the criticism of dry-hand milking comes from those 

 who have never tried this method in conjunction with systematic 

 wa.<hing of the udder and teats. Where the method of cleaning 

 described above is practised, it will be found that both milki^rs' 



