1 Oocr., 1897. | QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 305 
expense of the company, and the contractor gets full payment for it. This is 
done, however, only upon condition that the outbreak of the infectious 
complaint is at once reported. On the arrival of the milk at the establishment 
it ig an invariable rule that its temperature must not exceed 10 degrees. The 
temperature of the milk in each can is therefore taken immediately on its 
arrival, and in the event of its being over 10 degrees C. it is rejected and 
employed in some other way at the expense of the contractor. Persons, 
specially appointed for the purpose, taste the milk in each can as soon as it 
-atrives. ‘These cans are sealed with lead at the farms from which they come, 
and if the milk has any disagreeable taste upon arrival it is rejected. Having 
passed through the above ordeal, separate samples of the produce of each farm 
are taken in order to discover the percentage of fatty matter contained in the 
milk and cream. The milk—both the sweet and the half-skimmed, also the 
cream—is' then filtered. The filtering machine is simple, but effective in 
operation. This is done by putting them into an enamelled receiver, placed at a 
higher level than another vessel of a similar character. 
The milk then, by its own pressure, rises up through the bottom of the 
lower vessel, passes through two layers of gravel of different degrees of fineness 
and several layers of fine cloth, and finally runs out through a pipe which is 
placed close to the uppermost edge of the receiver. It is quite inconceivable 
the amount of filth from which the milk is purified by this process: not only 
the more palpable dirt, which consists chiefly of hairs, scales, chaff, and similar 
matters, but also enormous numbers of bacteria. In the coarser gravel, up to 
6,500,000 of bacteria have been discovered, and in the finer sort up to 17,500,000 
per cubic centimetre. 
From the very beginning of its career, one of the tasks which the company 
has undertaken has been how to supply specially wholesome milk for the 
nourishment of infants fed upon the bottle, the so-called “children’s milk.” 
The feeding of the cows which supply this kind of milk has been regulated so 
that these animals receive during the winter only hay, crushed barloy or oats, 
and a small quantity of carrots.. The children’s milk is led direct from the 
filtering apparatus into clear glass bottles, which are then carefully corked and 
sealed with lead. The latest improvement introduced by the Copenhagen 
Milk Supply Company in its efforts to obtain the best possible milk for infants 
has been, not only to supply pure pasteurised milk in bottles containing an 
imperial pint, but also milk mixed with water and sugar in various proportions, 
according to the age of the child. 
To destroy in the most effective manner ‘any germs of disease that may 
possibly be present, the milk (both the pure and the mixed), in bottles specially 
constructed and corked, is heated up to a temperature of about 85 degrees O. 
After being kept at this temperature for half-an-hour, it is cooled down in the 
course of about twenty minutes, and then placed in ice. Milk prepared in this 
way will remain free from germs for at least twenty-four hours. The milk is 
bottled and sold in zine stands or cruets, each containing the quantity neces- 
sary for twenty-four hours food, according to the age of the children. There 
is, in every cruet, a certain number of bottles, each of which contains milk 
enough for a meal. ‘The bottles are of clear glass with tapering necks. They 
are first placed in lukewarm water to take off the chill, after which the cork is 
removed and an ordinary mouthpiece put on. 
The number of farms supplying the milk is about 60, and the aggregate 
number of cows approaching 6,000. ‘The regular staff of workpeople 1s about 
800, in the proportion of 100 men, 70 women, and the rest boys. When 
any infectious disease breaks out among the workpeople or in their families, 
the party concerned is at once removed from the business, but he still receives 
his wages, if only the ease has been reported at once. This description of the 
principles which govern the company, and of the manner in which these 
principles are adhered to, explains the confidence which the inhabitants of 
Geese show the undertaking in an ever-increasing degree, while abroad, 
