Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1907-06-24
OUR FARMERS.
THE NEED OF A MILK HOUSE.

So much has been said about clean |
cold milk that it would seem unnec-
essary to bring this matter up again,
except to those who are new in the
business. But the lack of cleanliness
and neglect to cool quickly and thor
oughly is such a great drawback to
having good wholesome milk and
consequently to making good butter
and cheese that it seems best not to
drop the subject. The creameryman
and the cheese maker get less for
their products because the patrons do
not deliver clean sweet milk, hence
must make lower returns to their
patrons at the monthly settlements,
the patrons lose because their milk
that is accepted is not of the best
quality and they lose from sour and
tainted milk that is neglected.
In handling milk for the shipping
station that which is clean and
cooled as soon as drawn from the
cow and kept in cool place will
remain sweet longer than new milk
that has been carelessly cooled and
handled and kept in dirty can. Old
milk is sometimes fresher, as far as
practical keeping qualities are con-
cerned, than new milk. Right here
| is point that should be better IN
derstood by those who produce and
handle milk for family consumption.
Milk that is thoroughly strained into
clean vessel and cooled down at
once to 30 degrees or below and kept
there until delivered to the consumer
will nearly always keep sweet as
long as desired. Quick cooling to so
degrees or below checks bacteria and
prevents their getting SO as to do any
damage for some time. On the other
hand half cooled milk is just the kind
in which these germs flourish. Unless
milk is stirred every few minutes, it
cannot be properly cooled by setting
large cans into cold water, for the
reason that the bacteria will gain
somewhat of start before the middle
! VI GAO Sdh 10 COOI. OU ILLS pIdA vi
setting the large cans in tubs or tanks
of cold water is better than nothing.
l believe one reason why milk is
not taken better care of on the farm
is because of the poor facilities for
handling it. The milk house, if there
is any, is too far from the barn, and
the milk is lett standing in pals in
Or near the COW stable until at least
two of the pals are full and often
until the entire milking is done, be-
fore it is taken away, strained and
cooled. It seems to me that no
farmer should undertake to carry on
dairying to any extent without good
dairy room or milk house, which is
almost indispensable to the proper
care of milk on the farm. Where the
dairy is a small one and the owner
feels he cannot be at the expense of a
separate building, room can some
times be spared in the farmhouse for
this purpose. Other times a good
room can be partitioned off, from a
portion of some outbuilding, like an
ice or wood house or she'd
If one has to be built by itself, the
outlay need not be great, as the
entire building can be made of cheap
material. A building 10x12 on the
foundation and eight-foot posts will
answer nicely for a herd of fifteen
COWS. In constructing it, building
paper may: be put on the studdine
F.; outside and covered with drop
siding or clapboards. Building paper
!, may also be put on the inside an6
covered with ceiling. By this plan &
dead air space is provided, which
acts as a non-conductor. A window
: on each side will admit plenty o
!, light, and chimney may be put VI
A so as to use stove in cold weather
A room of this size is large enough
for separator, churn, worker AM
table. If the milk is to be delivered
> to shipping station or creamery,
y room even smaller than this vii
answer. In any event an arrange
K ment that provides room or build
y ing where the aerating can be dom
and all the dairy utensils washed vii
e be good investment.-V. M. Coucl
in Country Gentleman.