View report page

52
In this way a low bacterial count would be assured.
Thorough cooling, not higher than 45° F., would then prevent further
bacterial growth. Note how much we are in the hands of the worker.
Labour must not be slack. A good head cowman is worth a good salary.
The farmer must educate his hands and maintain their interest. He
must show the workers the results of their work, both good and bad, he
must show them reports of other farmers and rouse a spirit of competition.
A bonus on a sliding scale should be paid the workers, depending
on the bacterial count. Labour, then, is the most important point in the
production of a clean milk supply.
Equipment comes next. The dairy needs greater attention than the
cowshed, because proper sterilisation has more effect than cowshed
practice on the sweetness and keeping quality of the milk.
Dairies and cowsheds alike need a good light by day and night.
Dirt must be tackled. Paraffin pressure lamps will do for lighting.
By day, windows and whitewash are needed for light as well as for
disinfecting purposes. In the dairy, whilst smooth walls and floors are
desirable, there should be hot and cold water, boiling water (or better
still, steam) for sterilising the utensils, and cold water for cooling the
milk. In addition to water and steam, we need steaming blocks or
sterilising tanks, a cooler, brushes, soda and soap. Churns should be
carefully chosen and should not hold more than ten gallons. Straining
should be done in the dairy and straining cloths must be boiled thoroughly
after every milking. The best strainer is a cotton wool pad used once
then thrown away.
Cowshed equipment includes dandy brushes and combs for grooming
the cows, and ordinary barbers' clippers for the udders and the tail.
Wash pails are needed, and both rough and fine cloths for wiping the
cows. Covered milk pails keep out 40 per cent of the dirt. An ample
supply of water is essential and is more important than reconstruction
of mangers, standings and gutters, useful though these latter are. The
health of his cattle is the farmer's prime care, especially freedom from
chills or blows which cause inflamed udders. Inflamed udders lead to
milk swarming with bacteria.
The Medical Research Council has appointed a Tuberculin Committee,
with which the Ministry of Health is co-operating, in order to
investigate the meaning of the results obtained by this test.
Tuberculosis works great havoc every year amongst cattle, and
tuberculosis in cattle is of the greatest economic importance to