The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1911-07-14

three main factors. They are quail
ty and quantity of the milk and
the cost OF production. Since every
dairyman, and in fact anyone who
keeps a COW, is interested primarily
in the net returns for the money
and labor invested we shall develop
to some extent these three points.
In regard to quality, we may say
that there is an extremely wide
variation in that respect with all
milk that is produced. There is
milk carried from COW barns that is
utterly unfit for human consump-
ton. From that there is a gradual
graduation upward until we reach
the highest class Of sanitary milk
production. From the sanitary
dairies~ that are really attempting
to put one high class wholesome
product, there is sent out milk that
is as clean and sweet and free from
bad odors and injurious bacteria as
human skill and scientific methods
can make it.
Nothing has more of an influence
upon the quality Of milk than does
cleanliness. There is no other farm
product that is so susceptible to
taints and bad odors as is milk.
There is no product that makes such
favorabl place for the develope-
ment of bacteria as milk. A single
bacterium can increase to one mil
lion more quickly in milk than in
anything else. That being the case,
it is very essential that the utmost
cleanliness is observed at all points
in the handling of the milk.
Cleanliness concerns itself with
the barn. The stall floors and alley
floors must be of a material that can
be kept clean and sanitary, and
they must be kept in such condition.
The barn must be well lighted in
order that sunlight may get in to
destroy lurking disease germs. The
mixers themselves must be clean.
their clothes and hands, including
finger nails. There is no special
merit in white clothes for mixers
aside from the fact that they are
an index of the state of cleanliness
of the clothes the mixers wear.
Any foreign material on white
clothes shows very readily and indi-
Gates that change of clothes is
needed if perfect cleanliness is to be
observed.
The pals, separator, and all
utensils are sources Of contamination
and bacterial infection if not kept
clean. No dairy can afford to be
without hot water and steam for
cleaning out the cans, pals and |
separator. The special virtue in
scalding these utensils out lies in
the fact that it kills off bacterial
life which cannot survive above a
certain temperature. One Of the
worst faults of milking machines
and one of the hardest to overcome
is that they must of necessity possess
a large number of joints which are
difficult to clean. Thus milk that
has gone through a milking machine
nearly always contains a certain
number Of bacteria, is less sanitary
and consequently worth less on the
market than milk otherwise pro-
duced.
The quantity of milk is another
main factor in profitable milk pro-
duction. In nearly all cases, the
heaviest mixer is the COW that re-
turns the most profit. There are
some heavy mixers that do not
make as economical use of their
iced as some others; however, the
ightest mixers are always kept
1t a loss. 1t is only from the
1eavy mixers that we can expect
20 reap a profit. !
The only way to really determine {
which COWS are profitable and which ,
ire not is to go about it in a bust
less like way with a spring balance :,
md tester. The spring balance 9
hOuld do double service. In the r