Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-06-08
DAIRY DEPARH II.
PLAIN WORDS ABOUT MILKING

mems Association, Mr.. Robert McAdam, a
well known factoryman and cheese expert,
gave all account of the various kinds OF filth
which he had found in the factory strainer
after receiving milk from his patrons. And
yet som people wonder why progress is so
slow in improving the flavor and character
of our dairy products. At this time, when
prices have deprecated and are unsatisfac-
tory, it becomes dairymen to make every
effort possible for improving the flavor and
quality Of their goods. The responsibility
must not be shifted wholly upon the manu-
f%acturer. In most cases it lies back OF this
and rests with the dairyman in his manage
ment at the farm.
The defect to which we have alluded comes
from uncleanliness in milking; and espec-
tally is this the case during spring and fall,
when the COWS are more or less confined to
the stable. Some dairymen, event if they do
not themselves milk upon their hands and
wet the teats of the COW before commencing
to draw the milk, they allow those in their
employ to do so, and the result is, more or
less filth drops into the pail to faint its CON
bCllUo. IL . . HtooJ pltotioS5
be guarded against in the most rigid man
ner.
If a cows bag is besmeared with dung
and dirt from the stable, it should be wash
cd with water and wiped witt a cloth and
then the operation of milking should be
done with dry hands. A person who has
once adopted the practice of milking with
dry hands, finds the milk can be drawn quite
as easily and rapidly as by constantly wet
ting the hands while the latter practice
must always result in more or less filth fall
ing in the milk to give it a faint of the sta
bles and thus injure the product which is
manufactured from it.
In summer when cows are at pasture,
and when they are not allowed to run
through swamps and muddy places, the
udder will be generally clean and will re-
quire only a few brushes with the hands to
free it from dust and loose hairs. One fault
common to many diaries is that accumula-
ions of manure or mud are allowed to re-
main at the entrance OF the milking stables,
and the cows, tramping through this every
time they go to and from the stable, bespat-
ter their udders and teats with the filth, and
as the mixers do not properly cleanse the
cows bag before milking, the dirt falls into
the pail and causes the trouble. There is no
way of avoiding this difficulty except by
planking or stoning the space in from the
stable doors and keeping it dry and clean.
This it pays well to do, even if no consider
ations be taken into account beyond the
comfort of those who do the milking.
This story OF cleanliness has been very
often urged in connection with other advice
ON the dairy but it needs to be urged much
oftener before it will be properly needed.
One great fault complained of in American
cheese is it's defective flavor, and there can
he no doubt that if taints could be traced
directly to the cause, they would often be
found to come from the source we have
named. If taints are so distinct and pro-
nounced as to leave no doubt as to their ORR
GIN in stable fifty, there cannot be much
doubt but that there must be various grada-
lions of this faint affecting the flavor of
cheese, according as the mixers have been
more or less clean in their milking.
This question was never more important
than now. The low price Of dairy products
requires more attention to the details Of
handling milk at the farm, higher skill in
manufacturing and curing our dairy pro-
ducts, SO that we may put a better article
before at home and abroad and
thus make up the loss so far as possible
caused by depreciation in prices.