Gloucester County Democrat., 1898-02-24
BITTER MILK.
May Arise From Food, Cows BAD Health
or From Germs.

May Arise From Food, Cows Bad Health
or From Germs.
Bitter milk has given rise to much
study and experiment. There arc m
questionably several causes for this spe-
cial foreign flavor One is the presence
Of bitter plants in the feed, as ragweed
(Ambrosia artemisi9 folia), and doubt
less some others, and we may be sure
that the special function of the milk
organs of the COW favors the acquisition
by tie milk Of the peculiar favors of
the food. Another cause is the condition
Of health of the COW, as to the presence
Of bile in the blood, due to disturbance
Of the liver. We must always consider
the physiological character of milk,
which is product of the blood Of an
animal and of course must partake of
the consequences of the state of this i'm
portant organ. Professor Arnold was
right when he said the udder was one
of the drains of the system of COW, for
VIC find it so in many ways that are un-
questionable. This is the first thing to
be considered. The food may be the
cause, or the state of the cows health
Potatoes are not considered a good food
for COWS, especially after they have
been stored some time, when changes
occur in them which. might undoubtedly
cause this defect in the milk 1t is not
generally known that the sprouts from
potatoes grown in the dark are poison
Gus, and as the growth is Of course at
first in the substance of the tuber, or at
least this changes during the keeping,
and the genus to which the potato be-
longs (solanum) has some especially
poisonous species, it may easily be that
the tubers are not desirable food for
COWS on account of the effect on the
milk and are to be avoided. AS a steady
food for COWS milking in the winter
and one entirely free from all objection
able quality there is nothing better
than good clean clover hay or bright
corn fodder with cornmeal and bran, all
in good condition.
A daily ration of salt, one or two
ounces daily, is conducive to good di-
gestion and health. The quantity of the
grain food depends on the ability of the
COW to dispose of it. Ten or ~ pounds
a day may be easily turned to good ac-
count by any good COW. AS to the other
valuable foods, the various meals it is
quite possible their condition may not
always happen to be exactly right, and
their high content of protein may easily
have such an effect on the animal as to
produce this fault in the milk, through
disturbance of the overtaxed digestive
organs, if they are fed in too large
quantity.
Then we have to consider one other
very effective cause of this fault, which
is the presence in the food, or the litter
even, of special germs. Scientific stu
dents of milk have determined that
these organisms produce bitter flavor
by their action on the albuminous parts,
causing a certain decomposition by
which bitter favored products occur in
milk. Some of these authorities think
that the product of butyric acid in the
milk gives rise to the bitter flavor, and
as we know how this change may occur
in milk in several ways-that is, the
infection Of it by stale milk, or by ex-
cess of temperature, or exposure to i'm
pure air in which the special germs are
existing-we are to look in this direc-
tion for the explanation as we'll.
There is one other point calling for
note, which is the hot suds in which
the utensils are washed. AS a rule no
c0an shou1d ba ucnd II, flo xro-Iy of +,e
dairy. Soap is very questionable
thing. We know not what impurity
may exist in it, and it is quite unnec-
essary. A solution of soda or other al
kali alone is to be used to remove the
remains of the milk, some part of which
will of course consist of butter, and
stale butter fat is quite sufficient to
start butyric fermentation in the fresh
milk. Country Gentleman.