Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-07-28
misffllaneuns.
Impure and Unclean Milk.
SOME OF THE OBSERVATIONS OF MILK IN
sPEcToR WHITE-How THE POPULAR
ARTICLE IS TAMPERED WITH.

I
tons concerning the quality of milk the
people of the city were using. Said Mr..
White The milk now brought into Man
chester is better than ever before. The
people who take it say so and we must al
low that they are the best judges in the
matter But there is still great chance for
improvement The lack of system which
creates neatness and cleanliness is the
chief evil of the milk business in Manches-
ter to-day"
cleanliness"
well in the first place a deposit OF
sand, both dark and light is frequently
found in the milk. small bits of manure,
hairs and other sediment are also common
things to discover. Perhaps one-third OF
the milk taken in the city has bad smell
or taste. Ii may not be caused by adul-
iteration for nothing else that we use in
the form of TODD will receive faint as
quickly as milk, and there is nothing else
that will display an imperfection more
speedily to the taste. There are numerous
ways to account for tainted milk. A good
many of our milkmen in cold weather
drive into town the night before they de-
liver and locate their wagons or sleighs in
barns or small stables. Some place them
where they are in near contact with fer
menting manure and hog pens, and others
where the stable drippings fall close be-
side them. Then many are not neat
enough about their wagons. In cold
weather to protect their milk from freez-
ing they will throw old blankets. stained
and smelling of manure. or pieces of bur-
lap over the cans. When the cold weather
begins straw or hay is frequently put in
the bottom of the wagons and here is al
lowed to remain until spring. The milk
is constantly stopping over and the cover
ing soon becomes sour, so when the stir
ring rod is taken out and laid down upon
it, 1t must take up more or less OF I'M
cleanliness. Often men run swill cart
in connection with their milk business. the
same cart being used for both purposes
have never found any pieces of onions
or potato Feelings in milk, but have often
suspected their presence there. Many
men who deal in milk, who have been in
the business all their lives, don't know
what good milk is. Occasionally | have
milk brought to me with bad taste that
can be traced to gargety cow. but the
owner pays no attention to the defect"
cl maps OHC-udll VI luC
who have customers in Manchester are
neat and clean, not more than that. Some
get their milk tainted by not properly rim
sing their cans after using them, and a
little faint will spoil a canful of milk.
Here is sample of milk that want you
to LOOK at. (The inspector held up bot
tie containing a pint of sour milk, very
thick, with nearly an inch of water on the
bottom.) This milk was brought to me
by a woman who said her family were I'M
able to use it. 1t made her baby sick. |
sent for her milk-man and he came.
told him some of his customers were
grumbling about the milk he left them.
He replied that he had been in the milk
business Is or 20 years and he guessed he
knew what good milk was. He could tell
by the looks. | showed the contents of
this bottle. He wanted to know what the
matter was. | said the matter was that
the milk had been skinned and watered
before it was sold. | told him it was
twenty per cent. below the standard and
was not fit for human food This is only
one illustration of many similar cases.
Very little of the milk is purely manu-
featured. A great deal of it though is
skinned and watered. Salt is then put
in to bring the gravity up, and if it looks
too blue and bad little burnt honey is
used, that gives 1t a rich color. Some try
the process of putting in glucose to make
If sweet and give it a body, and still 9TH
ers use starch and chalk. Every little
while some one comes into my office and
wants me to "go" for such and such a
milkmau. But am working along slowly
in this matter and don't propose to make
any mistakes if | can help it. am try
ing to induce the milkmen to become
heater in their habits and hope to do so
without making the law odious to them.
You see that the men as rule who raise
milk do not sell it directly to the custom
ers in the city. 1t is the milkmen who do
this and they are the ones who doctor the
article. They are the ones also who should
be held responsible for selling impure
milk
What do you think of milknlen who
sell cream ?"
81 think as a rule that their customers
get poor milk. Once in while meet
milkman who brings in quart of cream.
| ask him what he does with the skim milk
and he replies that he gives it to the pigs
My Judgment is that he robs his customers
VI Sopu Iulih lOI tIle sake Oh pettlng tne
cream, As rule milk brought the great
est distance is the poorest when it gets
here. 70 illustrate: In warm weather
the dealer travels u miles the night be-
fore the dav he delivers the milk to collect
it. In the morning he drives into town
over rough road, and by the time three
| fourths of his route is travelled over he
has gone % or 80 miles and the milk
will very likely either become sour or
curdle So you see the nearer consumer
resides to the milk producer the better his
milk is likely to be. Impure milk in the
winter time may be brought about by the
slovenliness of the man who milks 1t
sometimes happens that COW is turned
out into the barnyard when a slight rain
or damp snow may come on, Sac gets.
of course. more or less wet, and when she
lies down her udder becomes dirty from
contact with manure and other material
The slovenlv hired man comes along with
his lantern later in the day. doesn't stop
to clean the udder and quantity of sedi-
ment is found in the milk pail, sometimes
a third OF teaspoonful to every quart
There is one other thing that will men
| ton and that is the impuritv that comes
| from a careless use of stirring rods. Most
of the rods are made of galvanized iron.
| The plate wears off after awhile and the