184 



How to Produce Clean Milk. 



[May, 



especially as regards their willingness to give immediate atten- 

 tion to any specific complaint by a grower, and to ensure the 

 hest possible transport of all perishable produce. 



With reference to the article entitled " How to Produce 



Clean Milk," by James Mackintosh, O.B.E., N.D.A., which 



. _ . appeared in the April issue of the Journal, 

 How to Produce . FF . , } ' , , ' 



~. m view oi recent experiments conducted 



Clean Milk. , TT . * ,. 



at the University College, Heading, the 



writer wishes to make the following amendments to his 

 article : — 



Methods of Washing. — Scalding is really an attempt to steri- 

 lize, and will do much to lessen the contamination from the 

 utensils; efficient steaming, however, will actually sterilize 

 utensils with less labour and is therefore to be preferred. Where 

 steam is not available utensils should be immersed in boiling 

 water and boiled for 10 minutes; in the case of a large cooler 

 ©r churns which cannot be placed in an ordinary copper, boil- 

 ing water should be poured over or into them until they 

 become unbearably hot. 



Steaming. — Utensils may be enclosed in a box or tank into 

 which steam is passed from a boiler. The steaming period will 

 vary from 10 minutes upwards according to the supply of 

 steam and the size of the box. If a thermometer is inserted 

 through a small hole in the lid or side, a temperature of 210 

 degrees F. is sufficient evidence that the utensils are being 

 satisfactorily treated; steaming should be prolonged to allow 

 the contents of the box to reach this temperature. Vessels 

 inverted over a steam jet should be kept in position until every 

 part of the vessel becomes too hot to touch with the hand and 

 left for at least one minute thereafter. 



Strainers and Straining. — Strainers containing a layer of 

 cotton wool which must be renewed at each milking, are the 

 best, particularly those where the milk falls on a metal plate 

 first instead of directly on to the straining material. The metal 

 plate then bears the direct weight of the falling milk, and there 

 is less chance of particles of dirt being forced through the 

 strainer. Cloths of a fine mesh are also in common use, but 

 the difficulty of keeping such cloths clean, and the certainty 

 that a dirty cloth will contaminate milk indicates clearly that 

 eotton wool strainers are much to be preferred. Where cloths 

 are used, two should be provided — one, used in the evening, 



