18 
TESTING AND HANDLING OF MILK AND CREAM 
Reading Tests .—Having finished the last whirling, all tests shall be 
maintained at a temperature of between 120 and 130 degrees until read. 
If glymol is used, the test should be kept between 135 and 140 degrees 
until read. These temperatures are best maintained by the use of the 
water bath for ten minutes. The careful use of the water bath will 
contribute greatly in cutting down shortages caused by over-reading of 
tests. 
The color of a test to be read should be a golden yellow, free 
from cloudiness, specks or curd. Any tests that have curd, dark specks 
or foreign matter at the lower portion of the fat column causing an ir¬ 
regular line, must be retested. 
In reading the test, hold the bottle perpendicular and 011 a level 
with the eye. Place one point of the dividers at the lower end of the 
fat column and the other point in the middle of the meniscus formed 
on the upper curved surface of the fat column. Then 
dividers on the graduated scale until the lower point 
is on the zero mark of the test bottle, the upper arm will 
indicate the per cent of fat. Care must be taken to hold the 
arms of the dividers rigid while lowering. 
When glymol is used, the upper surface of the fat 
column is made straight and the reading may be taken 
from the top of the fat column, no allowance being made 
for the meniscus, as it has been overcome. 
Cream test readings should always be made to the 
nearest half per cent or full per cent marks. Reading to the 
half per cents is necessary in order to check out closely with 
the creamery. 
The reading completed should be entered opposite the 
patron’s name, being sure that the number on the test bot¬ 
tle corresponds to the number given the patron’s name. 
Hozv to Clean Test Bottles .—Empty the bottles while 
warm into the earthen waste jar, at the same time shaking 
the bottles to loosen the white deposits in the bottom, then 
wash in warm water using a washing powder and a small 
brush. Weak acid and washing powder will often remove 
sediment which water will not dissolve. 
Test bottles should be inverted and allowed to drain 
If glassware does not drain clean after it has been thoroughly washed, 
too much washing powder has been used. 
Glymol and Its Use .—Glymol is a white mineral oil and can be 
obtained at most drug stores. It serves its purpose better in making 
the fat column easier to read by coloring with akanet root. The 
akanet root may be wrapped in cheese cloth, an ounce to a quart, 
and left in the oil two or three days, after which time the oil will 
Fig.*—Read the fat column for cream from A to B, or from the bottom of the column 
to half way up on the upper dark curved surface or meniscus. 
lower the 
SO —- 
vs- 
vo-- 
3S- 
2S- 
26- 
/s- 
/o- 
Fig. * 
until drv- 
