Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 392, 12 November 1903, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

% ORIGINAL ARTICLES, INCREASING KEEPING QUaLIHES' OF MILK. MOjfrQME recent experiments prove that S»sto milk sourß because in the process .sg£j| of growth aßd multiplication of the bacteria the milk sugar is converted into lactic acid. When there is enough acid present to be apparent to the taste, the milk is said to be sour.

Since the keeping quality of milk btars a j direct relation to the bacteria which gains access, it is important to prevent their getting into the milk. The udder and aajscßnt parts of the body whioh are much shaken during milking is one of the chief sources of infection, while the duet Of the stable, the hands and clothes of the milker, together with the pails and cans used, are only Blightly Its 3 important sources. Experiments ehow that milking in a stable where the circulation of air can carry the dust out, wiping the adder with a damp cloth, and scalding the utensils either with steam or boiling

water, will not only reduce the bacterial content of the milk but increase the keeping quality of the milk materially. A covered milk pail with only a small openisg to milk into reduces the number of germs falling into the pail by onefourth, as compared with a common open pail, and the milk by using these means has kept twenty hours longer. Immediate cooling after milking is next in importance. Mite allowed to

stand two hours without cooling cdbta'aed twenty-three times as many germs as when milking was finished, while that which was cooled to fifty four degreeß only had four times as many at the end of two hoiirß. That emphasizes the importance of quick and thorough cooling. Milk when first drawn has a peculiar flivour or cowy taste, more or less noticeable, which if not driven cf£ by aeration (exposure to the aii) frequently gives the milk an unpleasant taste even before it becomes sour. Aeration may be accomplished by Btirring or by pouring from one vessel to another. The can of milk may be set in a tub of water to cool. The cooling and aeration may be better and more quickly done by running the milk over a combined cooler and aerator or other similar apparatus, having provision for running cold water through it. Finally, cleaner cows, cleaner milkers, e cilded utensils, quick and thorough cooling, aeration, less exposure to dost when delivering, will increase the keepiag quality of milk.

EFFECT OF COW FOODS OK BUTTER FLAVOUR. In discussing the effect of food on butter Savour. It is assumed that all agree that the food cows eat affect the flavour of the milk, either favourably or unfavour ably. The flavour of the milk and con sequently the butter always changes when there has been any decided change in feed. The first, green fodder causes a change in the flavour.- Freqaently there are obnoxious weeds mixed in with the green fodder, which give the butter a decidedly disagreeable flavour; also damaged silage,' moldy forage, musty 8 meal, cabbage, turnips, and rape are bad. Even good silage it' fed without ether food causes a disagreeable flavour, whereas if, say, thirty to thirty-five pounds of silage is fed and the remainder of the ration in good hay, or corn fodder and grain, the flavour will be excellent. Rye pasture produces a flavour disliked by most people, and also, though not to so great an extent, green clover and oats pasture. In order to avoid the ill effects of such pasturage, it is deemed advis&Dle to allow the cows to run on them but a few hours each day at first, and giva them some hay and grain, gradually extending the time they are in the pasture, After a while the flavour is not so strong, also those who eat the butter get accustomed to it by degrees and eventually like it. When cabbage, turnips, potatoes, or rape are fed they should be given in email quantities, and it is claimed that if they are fed several hours before milking they will have no bad effect. It should be assumed that the milch cow was made on the ten hour plan, so that she can eat any food which is good for her in reasonable quantity, and after her machinery has run ten hours, all offensive taints or flavours will have been thrown from her body. Scientifically told, the volatile fats that are derived from the food may give cither desirable or undesirable flavours to the milk. Tbus we like the characteristic flavours dua to the grasses." On the other hand, the stronger flavour of garlic, onions, turnips, etc, give to the' milk as undesirable character, but with proper precautions the bad results coming from these foods can be entirely avoided. When bad flavours occur they may be found in the milk and in all the tissues *of the body during the time the food is undergoing digestion, and by the time digestion is completed the volatile products will have entirely passed away. If care is taken that the time of feeding and milking is ten hours apart there will be no danger of the contamination of the milk. Whereas if the milking is done within four or five hours after feeding the milk is sure to be. strongly impregnated.