20 BULLETIN 356, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
the cow's body. All utensils, sucli as pails, strainers, bottles, dippers, 
etc., which, come into contact with the milk, should be sterilized with 
either live steam or boiling water. Many dairymen make the mis- 
take of thoroughly washing the bottles and then rinsing them with 
water which is only warm. This does not kill the bacteria which 
may be on the surface of the utensils, and considerable contamination 
ensues. Many competitors have been in the habit of discarding the 
first few streams of milk that come from each teat, for it is known 
that the first milk drawn contains a larger proportion of bacteria than 
that which follows. Milking should be done as quickly as possible 
and with as little agitation of the cow's udder as is possible, as such a 
disturbance is very liable to shake bacteria from the cow's hide into 
the milk pail. 
As milk is so easily contaminated it is necessary, as soon as drawn, 
to take it to a clean, convenient milk house, where it can be cooled 
immediately. The milk house should be well protected against flies 
and should be scrupulously clean. As bacteria grow very fast in 
warm milk, prompt cooling is an absolute necessity. Fresh milk con- 
taining 100 bacteria per cubic centimeter, if not cooled will in the 
course of time contain the offspring of the origijial bacteria which 
may amount to millions. In the scoring of cream it has been noticed 
that the bacterial count has averaged higher than that of the milk 
samples submitted. This may be attributable to the fact that clumps 
of bacteria are broken up by the force of the separator, and hence an 
apparently larger count is the result, or it may be caused by milk 
passing through one more piece of apparatus, namely, the separator, 
which is not always thoroughly cleaned and sterilized. 
The bottles into which the product is put and the caps with which 
they are sealed should be steriHzed so that no contamination can 
ensue. In cooling the milk it is not necessary that any special form 
of cooler be used. In fact, many of the successful competitors in 
the past who have obtained very low bacterial counts have believed 
that the exposure of the milk to the air in passing over a cooler was 
not a desirable feature, and have bottled the milk warm and cooled 
it with ice water. While this method does not cool the milk quite so 
quickly, it saves it from any possible contamination caused by expos- 
ing it in a thin sheet to the air. Bottles should be kept in ice or ice 
water until ready for shipment; then they should be packed in a 
durable shipping case surrounded with ice and forwarded without 
delay. 
FLAVOR AND ODOR. 
Several causes contribute to undesirable flavors and odors in milk 
and cream. One instance is the flavor which is the result of bacterial 
action. This may be owing to the lactic-acid bacteria which sours 
