The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1904-02-26
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Keeping Power Of MIIk.

question that is frequently asked.
Milk has obtained bad name in this
respect, and it is usually believed that
its keeping power is much less than
It really is. Most people believe that
milk Will keep not longer than twenty
four hours in warm weather, unless
nearly frozen. The fact is that the
keeping quality of milk depends large.
" on the amount of dirt in various
forms that is allowed to get into it
after 1t Is drawn. Even the students
OF bacteria In milk have been sur.
prised at the length of time it will
Keep under the best of conditions,
with no other element to keep it from
sour1ng than moderate temperature
and freedom from dirt. The longest
time milk has kept under these condi-
tons Is forty-two days. But no such
duration Of keeping quality is needed
IN the ordinary milk trade. If milk
VIII keep at the most for three days,
or even for two days, the milk hand.
lers and consumers will be satisfied.
But, as commonly handled, milk will
not always keep for even one day. Mr..
Gurler sent milk from DeKalb, ILL.,, to
Paris, France, and 1t was used there
sweet. Milk drawn from cows in the
environs Of Paris, and brought to the
same tables in that city, was sour be.
fore night. The only difference in the
world was In the care of the milk.
During the latter part of the December
just passed milk sent into Chicago in
the morning was sent back to the milk
producers the same day because it was
sour. 1t Is altogether probable that
1t was simply MIXED and strained
warm into cans that had never been
washed and in which there was left
enough sour milk to act as a starter.
This shows the limit of carelessness in
the handling Of milk. One would
think that after all that has been
said about the necessity of putting
clean milk into clean cans, expert.
ences of this kind would be impossi.
BILE. In very many cases these things
occur not as the result of indifference
on the part Of the owner of the cows,
but on account Of too much haste on
the part Of the men intrusted with the
doing of the work. The cans come
back to the farm with the dregs of the
milk of the previous shipment still in
them. The train was late or the wag.
on late in getting them to the farm
and the new lot of milk must be got.
ten to the train in hurry or it will
miss connections in the CITY. The
hired man either puts the milk into
the cans without washing the same or
he pours in some cold water, sloshes it
around and pours it out again and
lets it go at that. The result is sour
milk returned to the sender or sour in
the hands Of the consumer. Often
such milk is by the milkman mixed
with other and better milk, with re.
sulting trouble all along his milk
route. This has led to the extensive
use Of chemical milk preservers by
both shippers and dealers in milk. The
only way to avoid such accidents on
the part of the shipper of milk for
city trade is to have enough cans SO
that one lot can be sterilized while
the other lot is in use. The attempt
to make one set Of cans do double duty
results in bad milk before it gets to
the customers. The keeping power of
milk depends on the men that handle
1t. Under right conditions it will keep
SO we'll that no preservative of any
kind will ever be needed.