The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1906-04-20

there are great variety of germs tina
find their way into milk; some of then
are innocent and harmless and probably
have no very decided action in any way
Some-the so.called Tactic acid formt
cause milk to become sour and hence un
fit for use, and these are the forms which
commonly make the dairymen the mos
trouble. Some forms cause sweet curd
ling and some cause bitter milk, and thes.
are occasionally met with. There ar,
also few forms that cause disease, ane
these are once in while found in mill
also. Now the principal way in which
germs find access to milk is by means o
stable dust, fecks of manure. hairs ant
dandruff scales that fall into the milk, sc
that in word we say that milk which il
free from germ life means milk that i!
clean. However, it is by no means pos
sible to keep all the germs out of milk
Even when drawn with the utmost pre-
cautions, as is done in certified milk sta
bles, there will still be a considerable
number of bacteria present, but it is pos
sible, by using even little care, to reduce
the number very much below what
would be the case where the milking is
carelessly done.
OF course, realize that we cannot, as
a rule, take the very exact and elaborate
precautions in the way of cleaning and
washing the cow and everything else
that is done in so-called certified stables,
but believe there are certain things
which can be done at a very slight ex-
pense, which will greatly improve the
keeping qualities of the milk.
We must at least do this: Try to give
the cows bedding enough so that they
are kept reasonably clean and that the
TANKS and udder are not soiled with ma
nure. Milking with wet hands is, it
seems to me, the very worst habit of
which the dairyman is guilty. The pos.
sibilities of communicating milk in this
way are wonderful. A few seconds spent
in brushing the udder and flank of the
COW will greatly reduce the number of
loose hairs and scales which would other
wise drop into the milk.
Then, too, cleanliness has double
meaning, for it means not only cleanli-
ness in milking the cow, but it means
cleanliness in the utensils as well. Re-
member this-that there is no way of
getting really clean pals and cans except
by the use of boiling water or live steam.
Elbow grease and cold water never can
make a satisfactorily clean milk can.
You may rub and scrub as much as you
choose, but the bacteria still find shelter
in the seams of the tin, or in the cracks,
and these places remain as veritable
breeding ground of bacterial life. But if
you can subject every part of every uten-
sill to the temperature of boiling water,
then you may depend upon the fact that
the germs are dead, and that things are
clean in a meteorological sense. You
may get along with this by having plenty
of water in a tea-kettle, but if you are
doing much in the way of cleaning cans,
YOU really need a small boiler so that ySu
can have live steam to use. Let US say,
by way of suggestion, that the washing
of the cans ought to be done in Balti-
more city, where with can-washing ma
chimes and plenty of live steam, the cans
could be washed far better than can pos
sibly be done by the farmer, at an ex-
pense of only fraction of cent each.
Fourth-And then finally, we must cool
milk quickly and keep it cool until deliv-
cred to the consumer. Remember that
milk spoils because bacteria grow in it,
and they grow much more slowly at low
than at high temperatures. Then their
growth is exceedingly rapid at 70 degrees
and above, much slower at 60 degrees,
and very slow indeed at so degrees or
below. So the simple rule is to cool the
milk by means of ice water in summer to
low temperature. and then use every
means to keep it there.
Let me say in closing, that it seems to
me the shipping of market milk will never
be satisfactory in all respects until ship
ping stations, under the management of
responsible parties, shall be established
at the various depots in the country,
whose business shall be to receive the
milk, reject that which is not in good
condition, and see that til kept cold and
that it is in good condition and has
proper care when loaded upon the train.
Such a system would only be in line with
the improved practices of other localities.
Director H. ]. Patterson made the fol-
lowing address.
Modern dairying may be summarized
in better cows, better cared for, better
and more cheaply fed, producing better
milk at less cost. This will result on the
greater fertility Of the farm and in better
farm buildings and evidences of prosperi-
ty on every hand.
There are about 10, 900 cows kept in
Maryland with the very low average
yield of about 1000 pounds of milk per
year, that is, less than $50 gallons per
year. which, at average prices. is only
about $50 gross returns per cow. Ex-
periments have demonstrated that many
of these cows, if properly fed and cared
for, would produce from two to three
times as much as they are now produc-
ing and place them in the profitable class
Now, when l say properlyfeed and cared
for, do not mean anything which is ex
traordinary or beyond the reach ofevery
| dairyman in this State. Thus, the first
important thing for the dairyman is tc
give his cows pre- per care and attention
and learn definitely which cows are the
profitable and which not and then dis
pose of the boarders or unprofitabl'
COWS, and l know that all will be sur
prised at the number which yield NJ
profit. Fully Il of the cows in the Stat
do not give enough milk to pay for thei
feed and these should go to the butcher
TIE first thing that confronts the dairy
man who is feeding cows properly, tina
is giving them the proper amount O
heterogeneous feed so as to furnish what i
required for making milk and keeping III
the requirements other body, is how to &c
this heterogeneous food or protein. Fo
many years this was not a seriou
question, as this class of feeds wer
exceedingly cheap, but each year the cos
of feeds has been on the increase, an
during the past years has, in most cases