The Bourbon news., 1912-07-05
Preventing the S0uring OF Milk
in Hot Weather.

During the hot weather of the sum-
mer months many farmers have much
trouble with sour milk. This causes
much loss. not only to the farmer who
keeps one or more cows for family use,
but especially to the dairyman who re-
tails his milk or ships it to a dealer in
the city. The dealer usually pays only
'One-half price for sour milk or refuses
to accept it at any price, thus entail
ing heavy loss to the producer.
Good sweet milk can be produced
and delivered iii prime condition to the
customer in the hottest summer wealth
er. The writer has for five years
shipped milk from the farm to Louis
ville-a distance of 81 miles the milk
being three hours on the train in trans
1T, and has not drop Of sonr milk
during that time. The amount OF
these shipments ranged from 60 to 9O
gallons day, and was on strict bus
mess basis, every gallon being. sold at
goodsmargin Of profit. During about
half of this time the milk was shipped
in 8 and 10 gallon cans, the remainder
of the time in quart and pint bottles.
Good sweet milk depends on two
items, cleanliness and a cold tempera-
ture. 70 secure these the following
rules should be observed:
Have the cows udder clean before
milking, A clean damp cloth can be
used for this purpose and can be car
ried IN the pocket of the mixer. Only
few seconds are required to wipe the
udder off Immediately before begin
ming to milk the cow. In our expert
ence this simple eXpedient has worked
wonders. ss'.sa - --,-~
Be careful not to allow hairs, dirt or
dust to fall into the milk They are
laden with germs. Germs cause the
milk to sour. The greater the number
of germs the quicker the souring will
occur. A pail with a small opening
will be very helpful in keeping out
dust and other dirt.
Use the milk pail for no other pur-
pose than milking. Some dairymen
use it for watering the horses and
stopping the hogs, and then wonder
why the milk sours.
Cool the milk immediately by run
ming 1t over a milk cooler. which can
be bought for So to 81, or by immers-
ing in cold spring or well water. The
animal heat must be removed before
placing in cans or bottled for delivery
Or shipment. If necessary to hold the
nights milk for shipment the next
morning it should be held at a low
temperature. Cold springs or we'll
water in wooden or metal tank OF
proper size to hold shipping cans may
be used for this purpose. If running
spring water is at hand, this will
serve admirably. In some cases the
milk or crem may be lowered INTO cis-
tern and kept. cool until time for
shipment. If care is exercised, milk
can be kept sweet without Ice, but a
supply of ice is very desirable.
Another important point. Wash all
vessels carefully. EXmine frequently
III the angles to see that no accumula-
tion of yellow casein material collects,
as this will certainly cause rapid sour
ing. After washing, scald all vessels
with boiling water and place in pure
fresh air until ready for use. II eX-
posedt OF he sun. SO much the better,
as sunlight is the best germ killer and
purifier.
Milk pr0duced in the manner out.
lined will he of the best quality and
will bring the highest market price.
Such milk is always in demand and if
used for buttermaking it furnishes the
raw material from which high quality
butter can be produced. If all the
butter produced Oh Kentucky farms
were made from milk handled this
way, hundreds of thousands Of pounds
Of poor butter which each year goes
into our markets at a very low price
would be replaced by a giIt-edged
article, which would sell at an attrac-
tive price, and would add many thous-
ands Of dollars to the annual profits Of
Kentucky farmers.
w. ID. NICHOLS.
Asst. Professor of Dairying.