Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-04-27
HOMEMAKERS COLUMN.
Correspondence on topics Of interest 70 the adie.
ia solicited. Address: Editor Hon1AAKhHs
COLUMN. Oxford Democrat South farlss mo

Correspondence on topics OF dntotIs ~ .no sn1.s
Is solicited. Address: Editor H0nnnAkhMHs ~
CoIuHN. oxford Democrat. South Paris. Ne
A SQUARE Deal for the Milk Bottle.
When buying milk do not hunt for
bargains. Find reputable dealer, ask
for proof that his milk 10 Of low bacte-
rial count and then be willing to pay q
reasonable price. In any city and to
many large towns, 1t IL possible to 60 to
the Office of the board of health and see
the score card of your milk man; this
will help you to judge of the quality OF
bis milk.
In cities, 1t Is scarcely possible to buy
good milk at less than ten cents quart
and special milk for babies 10 often
twelve and fifteen cents quart and Is
we'll worth the price. Remember that
this milk 10 safer than tho traditional
| "milk from one COW" that our mothers
were so anxious to get for their little
ones.
Housewives, who can remember the
tin cans used some years ago, now real
ize the advantage of the glass bottles
which show the amount Of cream and,
what ia yet more important, they dis
close any dirt which always means dan
ger. No matter of whom you buy milk,
it is wise occasionally to lift the bottle
high enough to look straight up at the
bottom Of it. II there is the slightest
sediment or discoloration, make COM
plant at once. Make this examination
Yourself, for wien asked about 1t the
milk man, if dishonest, may give the
bottle sly shake and deftly hold 1t in
the air for a second to prove that there
Ia no sediment visible.
In 1880, when John Cotton is credited
with saying that nothing was cheap in
the Colonies but milk and ministers, 1t
is recorded that milk was but a penny
quart in Salem, Massachusetts,. At
that rate, it probably mattered little il a
half pint was wasted now and then, or
if two or three quarts turned thick and
was given to fowls or pigs. To day the
situation is altogether different. The
housewife considers carefully whether
she will take pint or quart and, at
ten cents a quart, she is careful that
none goes 10 waste. When water will
answer the purpose as we'll in cooking,
she makes it take the place OF milk.
Milk should at least have thirteen per
cent Of solids, but there is too much fear
Of dilution by water and too little atten-
tiuu paid to other dangers to its quality
that may come from the kitchen. The
producer of the milk and the man who
handles 1t for market may have taken
care to have it of gilt edge quality, yet
the woman in the kitchen can undo all
their work in a very few minutes, for
kitchen sanitation IL yet In the element
airy stage.
When the milk bottle, taken from the
back or front steps, 10 carried directly to
the pantry or refrigerator, stop and
th nix what may have happened. The
prowling cat, looking At the cream
through the glass, sometimes laps the
top of the bottle hoping for stray drop.
The bottle that stands for two or three
hours between the milk mau's early call
and your breakfast time gathers coat
ing of dust, although 1t may not be no.
ticeable. II the top of the bottle is not
wiped off, this dust or other contamina-
ton is washed into the milk as 1t is
poured from the bottle; therefore, 1t is
better to wipe off the rim or neck of the
bottle with a wet cloth as soon as the
milk il brought into the house.
While milk should be kept cold and In
the bottle, replacing the little cap at
once after any is poured out, many
housekeepers hasten to empty 1t into
pitcher before it is set into the refriger-
ator. Perhaps the pitcher was wiped
with dish towel, instead OF being scald-
ed and inverted; possibly, after filling
with milk, it is left standing on the
kitchen table for an hour or so, in spite
of the fact that exposure in warm
place is certain to be followed by devel-
opment of harmful bacteria.
When the last Of the milk is used, the
bottle should be washed and not allowed
to stand about the kitchen, to be taken
hurriedly to hold tea and coffee or per-
haps acid and greasy liquids. 1t Is true
that at the milk stations, or where the
milk is bottled, the bottles are washed
and sterilized, yet they should always be
kept for their lawful purpose Of holding
milk.
Put bottles out each day. 1t is a COM
M n fault of both mistress and maid to
allow from three to even seven or eight
bottles to accumulate before they are
sci out. This increases the work of the
milkman even to the point of making an
extra trip for collecting what could be
handled easily in the mornings delivery,
If the bottles were returned systemati-