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All milk after being druwn from the cow should be
cooled, which is usually done by passing the milk slowly over
a series of tubes through which cold water is kept running.
The water used to run through these tubes is often obtained
from a pond, or it may be rain-water that is used over and
over again ; so that in summer, when cold water is required
the water used is not much below the temperature of the
milk. Moreover, if by any chance the cooler goes wrong
and the tubes leak, this filthy water gains access to the milk.
As one farmer naively remarked to me that he could not
make out the increased yield of milk from his cows, until one
day he discovered a leakage in his cooler.
Then again, there is also the difficulty of keeping the
animals clean. Cows are about the most difficult of all
animals to keep clean in the region of the udder ; and this
dirt is very apt to pollute the milk. On most farms, now,
in Essex at any rate, men-milkers have replaced the old-time
"dairymaid." There is reason to think that this change is
not for the better, either for the cow or for the cleanliness of
the milk.
ILFORD COWSHEDS AND DAIRIES.
As mentioned before, there are 7 Cowsheds in Ilford.
Of these, 4 are modern, well drained, paved, and with
sufficient cubic air space for the cows.
The other three are in the rural part of the district, the
buildings are old and only waiting for the development of
building, to be pulled down. They are fairly well kept,
and only provide accommodation for some 23 cows in all.
There are 44 Milkshops and Dairies registered in the
district, and of these, about one-half may be said to have