140 Cleanliness in Dairy Management. [june, 



ture is apt to fall too low. The walls, the beams, and rafters 

 should be regularly swept down and frequently lime-washed ; 

 above all, cobwebs and dust should not be allowed to accumulate. 

 The cow's bed must be at all times kept clean, and the manure 

 and soiled bedding should be removed from the shed at least 

 twice each day. Any manure adhering to the cow after she has 

 been lying down should be at once removed. During the winter, 

 when she passes most of her time in the shed, the cow should 

 be brushed down each day. Where this is done the bacterial 

 contamination of the milk is sensibly decreased, provided that 

 this cleaning down does not take place when milking is actually 

 in progress. The gangway and gutter behind the cows should 

 always be kept clean, and it is important that they should 

 be in their cleanest state at milking time. The material com- 

 posing the floor of the gangway and gutter should be impervious 

 to moisture, otherwise it may harbour organisms which, if carried 

 into the milk, may be the cause of considerable trouble. 



It is not desirable to confine the cows entirely in the sheds 

 during the winter ; they should be given at least an hour in the 

 open each day, for few things are equal as disinfectants to day- 

 light and exercise. 



Cows should on no account be allowed to consume dusty 

 fodder during the time milking is in progress. On dusty fodder, 

 such as mouldy hay, millions of organisms exist, and the shaking 

 of the fodder serves to impregnate the air of the shed with 

 countless numbers of these small forms of life. The writer has 

 on more than one occasion traced serious milk faults to such 

 a source. 



Too much attention cannot be given to the drinking water. It 

 is to be regretted that in many cases the cows have access only 

 to a stagnant pond, into which they must wade before sufficient 

 depth is obtained to enable them to drink. Such a state of 

 affairs is always bad and should be remedied at once. Stagnant 

 water is certain to be crowded with bacterial life, so that, 

 apart from the risk to the cow's health, the chance of milk 

 faults or troubles is greatly increased by allowing the cows 

 access to such a pond. There are many ways by which the 

 bacterial life of a stagnant pond may find its way into milk, but 

 probably the most common way is by means of the organisms 



