292 
Milk. 
must be close to the dairy a good supply of clean water ; but tlie 
less water is used lor washing the floor and benches the better, 
for nothing is more injurious to milk than a damp floor and 
close, moist atmosphere. That which is used ought to be 
scalding hot, and the evaporation should be further accelerated 
by a rapid current of air. Pioper means of ventilation, there- 
fore, should exist in every well-constructed dairy. The milk- 
pails, pans, straining-cloths, and all other utensils when used 
should be washed immediately with scalding water, and not set 
aside uncleaneu until they are again wanted. The dairy-maid 
should not show her zeal for keeping the dairy clean by splashing 
water about. Above all she should prevent men or women from 
entering her domain with dirty shoes, or in any other way bringing 
dirt into the dairy. In wet weather the introduction of dirt may 
not be altogether avoidable, but it may be reduced to a minimum 
by having a good scraper and rough door-mat at the entrance, as 
well as a pair of wooden shoes for each man who brings in the 
milk, which may be readily slipped on and off on entering 
and leaving the dairy. Any one who doubts the efficacy of these 
simple means should visit North Brabant, which is justly cele- 
brated for its excellent butter. Dairies which are models of 
cleanliness can there be seen, not here and there, but almost 
universally throughout the district. The best aspect for the 
dairy is one facing the north ; but after all this is not essential, so 
long as the room is dry, well ventilated, and protected by blinds 
or shutters from the direct rays of the sun. 
The great defect in many of the dairies in England is the want 
of proper ventilation. This is a fertile source of dampness, which 
is specially detrimental to the preservation of milk. One of the 
most effectual and inexpensive means of providing a renewal of 
air is to put up a perforated zinc grating, 3 or 4 inches broad, 
which may be run all along the top of the windows. In addi- 
tion to this a whole window, made to open and shut, may be 
furnished with perforated galvanised sheet zinc. The walla of 
the building should be thick, and, if of stone, lined inside 
with brick. If a separate building, the roof of the dairy should 
not be covered with black slates, which, being good conductors 
of heat, get very hot in summer. A better material for covering 
the roof is Stonesfield slates, or similar limestone flag-stones; or,, 
if these cannot be procured, common red tiles should be used in 
preference to black roofing-slates. V>\it the best cover is unques- 
tionably a straw roof; for straw being a very bad conductor of 
heat, )ireserves a inore uniform temperature in the dairy than any 
other kind of roofing material. 
The floor should be of stone ; large llag-stones, well set in 
