Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-06-03
SCIENCE IN THE DAIRY.
PRECAUTIONS THAT VERY NEAR
LY INSURE PURE MILK.


A present achievement of scientific
farming is the production Of milk so
free from germs that bottled as 1t Is
taken from the COW and sealed it has
been transported across the ocean and
brought back still in perfect condi-
tion.
The farms where this milk is pro-
duced are not conducted on agrlcultur-
al experiment station lines, the first
object being to produce milk practical
ly free from bacteria; profit being
secondary consideration, although it is
by no means ignored.
The undertaking is unusual in unit
ig under the control of a single cor
poratio eighteen farms situated near
as many large cities, the aggregate
area being 7460 acres, and the num-
ber of COWS milked daily averages
something more than 5000. The conduct
of these different farms is identical.
Each has resident manager in
charge. Most of these managers are
college graduates and a number have
been professors. 1t is required that
all managers, whatever their previous
training, shall spend some time in one
of the laboratories of the company.
There is a laboratory in each of the
cities near which the farms of the
corporation are situated and it is from
these that the milk is distributed.
The farm near New York is typical
of others controlled by the company.
Here there are 225 COWS and each one
of them is as carefully considered and
cared for as fine horses in the best
stables. They are not of any particular
strain, but are good grades, the stand
ard being young, perfectly healthy
COW giving an average of ten quarts of
milk day, which tests 1-2 percent or
more.
The men, as they go about caring for
and milking these COWS, look, in their
white, perfectly clean clothes, like
serving men in a well-appointed din
| ing room. They rise at 4.30 o'clock,
and, after brushing each COW and wash
| ing the udder, put on their white suits,
| which are washed each day and then
sterilized, and proceed to the milking.
The milk is at once put In covered
| sterihzed cans and sent to be cooled
| and bottled. The room in which this
| is done has white tiled walls and a CO.
msnt floor.
| The double windows are so arranged
| that there is no dust, and the daily
washing Of the walls and floors keeps it
scientifically clean. Here the air is
changed by an exhaust process, the
fresh air being filtered and washed by
a spray. The arrangement for cooling
milk is so perfect that it requires only
about five minutes to reduce it to a
very low temperature.
At $50 o'clock the milking is finished
and the cows are fed, first with grain
and then hay. No COW is fed while be-
ing milked.
All rations are carefully weighed and
| brought to the cows; no feed being
kept in the barns. When they have
finished feeding they are groomed, and
if the weather is fine they are turned
into the summing yards which are
cleaned daily.
Here. they lie, and chew the cud of
fulfilled content, or walk quietly about,
and, if one may judge by appearances,
are altogether as happy company OF
cows as could be found in summer s
search.
The barns are cleaned and swept
twice and scrubbed once each day. AL
though simple, they are models In their
way.
The walls, roof and rafters are white
washed, SO that every part, save the
stall divisions and fine cement floors,
| is perfectly white. Each barn accom-
Inodates forty-eight cows, and as the
barns are 3S feet wide and 104 feet long
this gives 1000 cubic feet of air space
to each COW.
A tier Of windows forms the upper
part of either side. Tho windows have
solid adjustable shutters, SO that eth
er the heat or cold can be excluded.
The stanchions are on a pivot and
the COW as she stands in her stall can
comfort is further insured by having
a drinking cup filled to a certain height
by means of float and SO placed that
she can conveniently get at it at any
time. These stationary cups are
cleansed daily and afterward sterilized
with hot steam.
Each stair is provided with a thick.
soft bed Of clean pine shavings, which
fill the barns with sweet, piny odor.
AS all the refuse matter is removed
twice day and at once put on the land
there is no offensive odor about the
/ farm, which at this season of the year,
of truth, lies smiling in the sun.
The fields, of varying green, are per-
fectly drained, and along one boundary
is a stretch of woodland. Altogether
it is a place to inspire the song of a
poet and the confidence of scientist.
Being little remote from lines Of
travel, there is no dust, and only dis
tant sounds and the song of birds
break the quiet. The water supply is
fine and abundant and so carefully pro-
tected that contamination is impossi-
| hle