Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-07-23

five hundred and thirty-three days Of
feeding, OF over one and one-half pounds
per day.
Ordinary horses take two and one-h half
gears to reach their full weight develop
ing fact. and one Of which he Is tho
only living example. is that he had all
his three-year-old teeth when he was
two years and two months 1t would
seem that the day when the wise ones
could tell the age of n horse by looking
In his mouth was past
But interesting as this experiment has
been and wide as undoubtedly will be its
results. 1t represents only small and
unmportant part of the scope Of dry
milk. Something Of the vastness Of this
subject may be surmised from the asser-
lions confidently advanced by those who
are studying 1t. that a new food has
come into the world. and more. n new
food of the highest quality. Nor when
we examine their arguments does this
assertion seem exaggerated
They begin by pointing out the prac-
atical impossibility of obtaining germ
free milk even from the best cows and
with the greatest hygicnic precautions.
The New York MIX Commission lay
down thirty thousand organisms per
cubic centimetcr MS the standard for
certified milk. Now granting that the
COW Is healthy and free from tubercu-
losis, etc. here is something to start
with. and in twenty-four hours this
number will have increased about five
hundred and fifty times.
Since cows are MIXED twice day
and only one shipment uadc, ut least
half the milk Is twelve hours old when
1t leaves the dairy. To this must he
added the time of transportation and re-
tail delivery. so that as a matter of
fact In all cities milk we drink Is at
least twenty four hours old. and con
tains the corresponding increase of
germs. 1t Is true that all these germs
are not poisonous, but even those which
are harmless. medically speaking. viii
ate the milk. They eat IT, live on its
strength giving properties just az n per-
son would. So that we are really trying
To noursh ourselves on k-fed germs
instead of gcrm-fr free milk. No one would
think Of taking their baby into the top
gallery of a theater to breathe the at
mosphere already used by hundreds Of
persons In the hope OF benefiting it by
n change of air yet this is very much
the same thing rs feeding 1t upon the
milk of commerce. But there is st!ll
worse to come. for In order to keep the
milk in apparently good condition the
dairy man has resource to what is called
doctoring. That ishe adds n certain
quantity of foreign chemical matter,
such as horacic acid. formaline, etc.
When 1t reaches the retailer he cannot
at once dispose of all his supply and In
order that 1t may not go bad on his
hands he gives 1t another dose. Professor
Rlyth, OF London, in his testimony be-
fore the Parliamentary Commission said
that he had found In the milk of com
merce high IAN amount Of boracic
acid equivalent to eighty grains Of horax
to the pint"
And milk more or less doctorcd In this
way Is sold everywhere as pure milk.
There are many dishonest retailers also
who do not hesitate to dilute the milk
with water or "baptize" it as 1t Is call
ed This practice has furnished no end
of material to the stage and the funny
papers and has been of course much
exaggerated. Nevertheless 1t is found
cd upon fact and some curious instances
are record. Not long ago Paris
policeman arrested man who. In the
quiet of early morning, was TRANQUILITY
filing his cans with water from the
fountain in the Place de la Concorde:
water upon which the dirt and dust
thrown up by thousands of passing cabs
and automobiles had settled. No one
would have dreamed Of drinking the
water from that fountain, yet here Il
was going into their milk.
If You add to these considerations tho
results of uncleaniness by ignorant or
careless people, the unavoidable dirt OF
the stables and on the cows them
selves. we may see how much chance
there is of getting good milk even with
the best system and how utterly bad Is
that which the majority drink.
These facts are so we'll recognized that
great efforts have been made to discover
some method of improving the situation.
The process called pasteurization was an
attempt to Kill at least a part Of the
bacteria by heat Its resultant product
was of course far superior to ordinary
milk, but could not for n number of
reasons be regarded as more than par
tlal success The same idea was carried
to greater extremes In sterilization. Here
we have all the germs actually killed by
boiling. In this case We have germ free
milk, but II has been established that
by this process not only are the germs
destroyed but by the long exposure
to heat certain chemical changes take
place In the milk itself. and sterilized
milk is now considered by the best au-
thorities to be hard to digest and food
unit for steady diet for children.
The idea of the elimination OF wnter
was also acted upon In what we know
ms condensed milk but as only one-half
to quarters of the water Is taken
ont 1t has little Importance outside of a
mere reduction In bulk.
These, then. are the difficulties to be
COPIED with let US see in how simple a
manner dry milk surmOunts them
In the first place all germs are killed
by the temperature of two hundred and
forty degrees to which the milk Is sub
jected The milk itself does not suffer
any chemical change. as In the case OF
sterilization. on account of the short
space of time It Is subjected to this heat,
only two and onc-half seconds instead
of twenty or thirty minutes. Secondly,
bacteria develop only in the presence of
moisture. 1t has been ascertained that
there must be 3 per cent. moisture for
the propagation Of germs. Now. as dry
milk contains only 6 per cent. moisture,
any germs which may subsequently, get
into the powder cannot develop; hence
the milk keeps indefinitely until
water is again added. We have, there
fore. in dry milk food eight times as
nutritious as ordinary milk In proper
ton to its weight, and which Is abso-
lutely free from bacteria and will remain
so. Let US glance In conclusion at the