Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1906-06-08
Cleanliness In Milking.
[BY Miss ANNA Il. Sorenson.l

Cleanliness In Milking.
CBy Miss Anna F. Sorenson.1
The more a COW is deprived Of ex-
ercise, the greater the need of keeping
the pores of the skin open by daily
carding and brushing. This is not
only a question of health but also of
cleanliness. 1t is wonder to me that
the farmer who will give his time
willingly to keep his horse clean, be- 4
grudges it to his cows. 1t is a ques-
ton of health in both cases, but in the
latter it is also a question of health
to his family and those who may drink
the milk, not to speak of the quality
of the butter. Both on the farm and
in the creamery cleanliness means
dollars and cents. The manner in
which milking is done has also an in
fuence on the cost of production.
Regular hours and kindness are two
important things to be observed. The
| Importance of milking the very last.
| drop is due not only to the fact that
the last pint is richer in butterfat than
the first, but also to the fact that it
helps to keep up the flow of milk and
extend the milking period. This is
| especially important in developing
heifers. The money lost in the United
States by poor milking can hardly be
| over estimated. nv
Cleanliness in milking means quail
ity in the butter. If the COWS are.
| cleaned and brushed and hour or so
| before milking, SO as to let the dust
settle, the only precaution needed is
dampening the udder with wet cloth,
SO as to prevent scales and dust from
falling into the pail. Many mixers
have the bad habit of wetting their
fingers, sometimes dipping them into
the milk, so as to make them slide
down the teats. The proper way is to
milk with perfectly dry hands, by
squeezing, not sliding. Only in strip
ping to start the flow and to get the
last drop of milk it may be preferable
to slide the fingers down the teats.
| Hands and finger nails must be
clean and all utensils used must first
be rinsed with cold water, then wash
ed and scrubbed, using soda or some
other washing powder, (never COM
mon soap), and finally rinsed with
boiling water. These rules for pro-
ducing clean milk are not new, over
a hundred years ago they were observ-
ed by good buttermakers, but 1t re-
NAMED for the last decade of last
/ W.
Souring of milk and indeed most of
the taints from which milk may suffer,
have been shown by our scientists
4 to be due to various bacteria.
These bacteria thrive in the excre-
| ments and dirt, and they float on the
| dust and drop into the pail while milk
| ing. They abound in the little specks
| Of dried milk left in the crevices in
badly soldered cans, in poorly cleaned
strainers, in rags used for wiping the
cans after washing, (Which should
never be done) under the finger nails
of the one who milks, in fact every
| where. Every bacterium which is in
the milk as it leaves the stables will
multiply twenty-three times in two
hours, at 95 degrees, while if the milk
is cooled to SIS degrees they will null
| tiply four times only in two hours,
1 and If the milk is chilled in ice. thew
| Will hardly increase at all.
i 1t is not. SO hard to convince the
/ private dairyman of the need Of all
these precautions, he will at once see
their value in a better product and
better price. But the farmer should
also be willing to acknowledge their
need when sending milk or cream to
/ the creamery. He is just as much in
terested in the final result, whether
the creamery be run on strictly CO.
operative basis or by an individual.
4 AS the cream or milk has to be
transported when sold to creamery.
| the bacteria get better chance to
develop than II the butter be made
on the farm. So handling the milk
! for the creamery really requires more
care II farmers understood this and
acted accordingly, it would be easy
20 increase the value of our creamery
butter from one to two cents a pound,
or Tor the United States, say from
three to six million dollars.