The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-05
HOME CARE OF MILK.
Milk Sours Very Slowly at Low Temperatures Clean Recep- tacles Aid in Keeping
 Milk Sweet.

With the advent of warm weather the care of milk in the home becomes more complex than during the late tent accumulated by allowing, milk to stand on a warm porch or in the sun is enough to start the bacteria in milk to multiplying at a rapid rate and thus make it unfit for use as sweet milk, according to the dairy specialists of the United States De- partment of Agriculture. The hot days also bring the flies, the great germ carriers, and the clouds of dust laden with bacteria, which, when coming to rest on milk receptacIes, may easily contaminate the milk.
 Milk is regarded as a natural cul- ture medium for bacteria, and the rapidity with which the various forms will multiply, under the proper temperatures, is astonishing. It has been shown that if a cubic centime- ter (about 1-2 teaspoonfu) of milk containing 10 bacteria is kept at 68 degrees temperature for 24 hours, the bacteria will have multiplied into about 61,0OO. In the same milk, if held at 50 degrees, the growth of bacteria would be very small, pos sib1y as low as 40 in 24 hours. Milk which contains a large number of bac- teria, is either not fresh or has come from a diseased COW or has otherwise been contaminated.
 Flies are possibly the most danger ous bacteria carriers which are likely to come in contact with milk. Tn csc scavengers may convey the germs of typhoid fever or other contagi ous diseases from the sick room or ex- creta to the milk. Typhoid epidemics have been caused by flies spreading the germs. Milk should be guarded from flies as vigorously as you would avoid 6XnOSIIreA- to 6IiSe3
 Cows are now out on pasture, and milk is more easily produced under sanitary conditions than during the winter months when the cows are stab1ed continuously. Milk may be handled by the farmer in the most correct and sanitary methods known, and yet if it is not cooled immedi- ately after milking. and kept cool un- til consumed, it very soon begins to change and grow sour. In fact, the bacterial content increases rapidly as long as the milk remains above 50 de- grees Fahrenheit. The bacteria. are dormant or increase slowly at a low CT temperature. For this reason, eV- cry precaution for keeping milk cold from the time it is produced until it reaches the consumer is essential; and especially so during the warm weath-
 Milk may absorb impurities when ever it is exposed to the air, or plac- ed in unclean vessels. The amount or degree of contamination depends on the cleanliness of the air and of the utensils. Even the air of a so- called clean room contains some inn purities. If the producer and dealer have done their duty, there is left at the consumers door a bottle of clean, cold, unadu1terated milk. But the consumer also has responsi bilities in handling milk so that 1t continues to be fit for consumption, especially as food for babies. The milk in the home may be placed in unclean ves- seIs or exposed unnecessarily to the air, or not kept cool until the time to the milk affecting it's quality, many of which are caused through care | Iessne ess.
 Receiving Milk at the Home
 The expression "a bottle of clean l cold, unadulterated milk describes the kind of milk which should be 1 delivered to the home. The method of dipping milk from large cans and l pouring it into the customers re- ceptacle in the street, with all the in- l cident exposure to the air, not all ways the cleanest, is a bad practice 1 Drawing milk from the faucet of 8 i retailers can is almost as bad as dip l ping milk, although the milk is not | exposed to the air as long as by the | dipping process. Besides the insani- l tary part of this method, some con- sumers, unless the milk is kept vel | agitated, are likely to receive less 1 than their proportion of cream. The 1 custom of setting out at night an un- | covered vessel which collects thou sands of bacteria from the street dust | before the milk is put into it, is ob- viously very insanitary, and get it is practiced to a, large extent. If milk is to be received in a bowl or pal | by the consumer, it is worth while | to have it delivered personally to some member of the family, or if the re. l ceptacle is to be placed in waiting | for the milk deliverer, it should be | covered with a, plate, or better still, | glass preserving jar may be used, 1T which nothing but milk is put. The 1 jars with the glass tops are prefer 1 able; no rubber bands should be us ed.
 l k Direct sunlight on the bottle of mill | warns it rapidly, and increases thu
 bacterial content. Milk which is de say at a. n1-, and remains out O. | doors until or 10 o'clock, is yer, likely to become warm and less fl l for human consumption than if i
 were taken in the house and placed il
 the refrigerator early in the morning 1 Milk should not be transferred
 from the original bottle into anothe
 receptacle until just before consunnp p ton. The bottle should be kept GOV
 cred with a paper cap, or an invert
 ed tumb1er as long as the milk is il
 1t. Milk deterioates by exposure t
 the air in the pantry, kitchen or nur | sery. Housewives are familiar witl
 the ability milk has to absorb smell
 from strong foods, like fish, cab
 bage or onions. It is obvious, there
 fore, that such foods should be kep
 out of the refrigerator which contain
 milk.
 If the milk is received in a bow
 pail or other receptacle, instead of
 bottle, the same rules apply to tn
 keeping of the milk as those men
 toned above for bottled milk. Mill
 from the grocery store or baker
 which is kept in a can, open mos
 of the time, and possibly without re