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51
Farmers now write to Mr. Garrad giving him their returns, and he
replies pointing out to this one that he is giving his animals too much
food, and to another that he should alter the proportion of the food constituents,
and so on. Now I have shown to you that the choice of a
breed has been worked out on scientific lines, and the feeding is no
longer conducted on haphazard lines by the modern farmer. He has his
journals, his Conferences, his Shows, and his Ministry of Agriculture,
and there is no excuse for conservatism any longer in this all-important
industry. The production of clean milk fortunately has seized the
imagination of numerous farmers, more especially as the cost entailed
has not proved so great, and as the public has begun to show its appreciation
: in short, keeping the business aspects before him, the producer
is finding his market, inasmuch as the plain man has learned that he
wants and must have clean milk. Clean milk is raw milk from a healthy
cow produced in a hygienic way without contamination, sweet and safe.
Clean milk does not sour in a few hours, but will keep for, say, three
days. Nobody wants boiled stale milk, and yet we must still insist that
if baby is fed on cow's milk the milk should be boiled and rapidly
cooled. We desire sweet, palatable milk, but pasteurising is still
advisable. We have not yet reached the goal of our desire, an educated
and enthusiastic farm service and a public clamouring for the
best. Still, things are improving.
Three factors spoil milk:—(l) External contamination. (2) High
temperature. (3) Age.
Bacteria grow under such conditions and these sour and rot the
milk. These germs may be disease-bearing or may cause souring.
Dirt of course is to blame. A bacterial count, therefore, is a useful
guide as to the purity of milk. To remove contamination, to avoid high
temperature and to prevent age, we must concentrate on clean production,
clean methods, reduction of temperature and speed in delivery.
Dr. Orr told us in 1908 that 41 per cent. of the contamination was
due to the producer's methods, and 58 per cent. was shared equally
between the time in transit, the distributor and the home.
To obviate these defects, the producer must have intelligent and
interested labour and good raw material in the shape of strong healthy
cows. In 1918, the United States Department of Agriculture said the
following were the three main factors in clean milk production, as
regards equipment
(l) The sterilisation of utensils. (2) Clean cows, especially clean
udd ers. (3) The use of covered or small-topped milking pails.