The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1915-05-28
prepared by the United States Depart
ment of AgricultureD

A large portion of the dairy proc
ucts of the South is marketed IN the |
form of butter, In the past this has
brought low prices because it has not
been regarded as of high quality. For
dairying to be profitable to him as II
should be, the southern farmer must
take pains to produce milk and cream
of good quality, as this determines to
a great extent the quality Of the but
ter.
To make good butter it is necessary
to have clean milk from clean, healthy
COWS. Even if there is no visible dirt
in it, milk from unhealthy COWS is not
safe. Special attention should be
given to the condition of the udder,
and any milk which appears Shiny or
RORY or otherwise abnormal should be
discarded. Long hair favors the &C
emulation Of filth, therefore the hair
on TANKS and udder should be clipped.
The body of the COW should also be
kept free from mud and manure, and
the bedding must be clean and dry
and used in sufficient quantities to
keep the COW comfortable when in the
stable.
1t is impossible to keep the COW
clean if the stable is dirty. In conse-
ouence a hard floor without cracks is
q necessity. The walls and ceiling
should be free from dust or cobwebs,
and at least once year they should
be whitewashed. Manure should be
taken out at least once day and kept
some distance from the stable. The
BARNARD should contain no mudholes
and be so arranged as to drain away
from the building. A clean yard is OF
great help in keeping COWS clean.
Avoid DsaereeabIe FIaVors.
The character of the feed may also
affect the milk Such feeds as rape,
cabbage, turnips and silage may i'm
part disagreeable flavor and they
should, therefore, be given after in
stead of Immediately before milking.
When the pastures are overrun with
garlic or wild onion the COWS should
be removed three or four hours before
they are MIXED. Moldy and decayed
feed should never be used, as it may
seriously affect the COWS health and
change the character of the milk. 1t
is also important to avoid anything
that will raise dust in the stable al
milking time, and hence dusty hay
should not be fed Immediately before
milking, nor the cows bedded at this
time
Still another important point is the
water supply. Cows need an abun
dance of water and this should always
be fresh and pure A good water sup
ply is, in fact, an absolute necessity
for the production Of the best quality
4 of milk and cream. Without an abun
dance of pure water it is unlikely thai
the various utensils used in dairy
will be properly cleansed, and there
fore the milk will Inevitably suffer IL
quality A descriptgp Of useful equip
ment is contained n a special publ
cation of the United States depart
ment of agriculture entitled Farm
Conveniences for Handling the Gov
and Her Product" which may be hat
on application.
Cleanliness must extend beyond thu
COW and the stable to the milker
themselves. They should milk witt
dry, clean hands, and the cows udde
and TANKS should first be wiped OF
with a damp cloth to remove any ZOOS
dust or hair which might fall into tn
pail. Each time that they are USE
, all the milk utensils should be rinseC
, first with cold or lukewarm water an
: then washed with hot water whic
contains some washing powder, sue
as sal soda. Soap and soap powder
are not desirable. Fiber brushes ar
; more easily kept clean than wasl
! rags and are, therefore, better. Afte
/ the utensils have been washed tho
= oughly they should be rinsed in scale
] ing water and inverted in rack in
r clean place and screened from file
Improperly washed utensils tend
turn milk sour and also acquire ba
odor which warm milk quickly a
serbs.
;. The milk should be removed at ono
from the stable and taken to SON
place where it can be cooled to ter
perature of so degrees Fahrenheit {
!. lower, and held there until it is di
y posed of. All flies and odors shou
4 be carefully guarded against.
a Separator Is Necessary.
e For the production of cream of Il
S, best quality separator is necessar
e l. none is available the milk shou
W be put into deep or shotgun" car
e. which are preferable to the old-fas
g ioned shallow vessels. In skimmii
n the milk it is desirable to produce
IS cream that contains not less than
ID per cent of buttesfat., as such crea
N sours less quickly than thinner cree
The cream should not be permitted