WEEDS IN MILK

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2123, 15 April 1914, Page 10

WEEDS IN MILK

THE NECESSITY FQR COOLING. 'At a meeting, of farmers at Odense, Denmark, recently, Mr-.-N. K. Jensen, instructor at 1 the Dalnvu Daily School, read a paper on the above, of which tho following is..a translation, forwarded bv. Mr. P..C. H.,Petersen, manager of tfie Whenuakura Dairy Company: — ..I have called this paper "Weeds in Milk," but I must first point out that I am not alluding to thistle, ragworth, and all . tho other kinds of-..weed one sees, in tho paddocks in the". summertime, but.l .was meaning the minute vegetable growths found in milk 'and' known as..bacteria. It', can be asked, is there any need to read a paper on the above subject to a meeting of practical farmers? The answer must unquestionable bo "Yes." It is the knowledge of bacterial growths in milk that taught us:what an important matter cleanliness' is, likewise it is the ■same knowledge that can .teach lis, of what importance the cooling' of'the milkimmediately, after milking-is.. It: is on account of the'presence of inthe milk' that»it should be cooled immediately after milking j if there was no bacteria, it would bo unnecessary to cool the milk at all. Why i 9 it then of importance to' retard the growth of those bacteria in the milk as much as possible? Because it is them, that in 90 cases out of a 100,''cause;the inferior quality of somo of the ,milk supplied to the dairy factories, and it is them that : cause most of the bad defects in clieeso and butter. At the present time, with tho National Branding of Dairy Produce Act in operation,. with the Lur brand as tho hall-mark of quality in Danish butter, it is all the more imjwrtant to pay -increased attention to improve the milk supply, as the dairy factory turning out'produce of inferior grade is deprived of the use of the Lur brand, and thus prevented from exporting their produce, and it has probably iiot escaped your attention that almost every week one factory is deprived of the use of the Lur Brand." '

Is it possible that inferior quality of the finished 'article is' always faulty manufacture'.by the'manager and his assistants?;. I,have no..hesitation in saying it is not. Why should it be otherwise in tho dairying industry than in any other, industry that the finished article should not be dependent on tlie raw material for quality!' Is it hot safe to assume:'the. dairying industry is like other industries, and only tho best of raw material will, produce first quality in the finished article ? . ;

I think all will agree that the 'milk supplier in his milk has the foundation i'or quel.ity in cheese and and if the foundation be not good the final structure will never be satisfactory. No matter how efficient a factory manager may be, no matter how, good "the factory and how up to date tlie plant,, he cannot, produce, uniform cieese or;butter linlgss he has uniform milk to deal .with, ' '

It will hardly be necessary here to point- out the , , various ways by which tho bacteria gets in' the milk, but most of them get into the milk immediately after milking, especially where it is carvied out under unclean conditions.

But even if the greatest care k taken in milking some bacteria find their way into .the milk, and the aim must therefore be to-create conditions that are .unfavourable for the bacteria, Tight 'from the-cow's udder until the milk is delivered at the factory. Tho most favourable conditions for bacteria consist of suitable nourishment, rnois--ture, and heat, of these only in the lastmentioned item has tho.milk producer any power to make conditions unfavourable for tho . bacteria, as nourishment and moisture in milk are as favourable as they can possibly be:

. By experiments it has been, proved that the temperature has great influence upon the development of bacteria in milk. In some experiments carried out recently, the number of bacteria were determined immediately after milking. Tho milk was then divided into five cans,, which, were set in a tub of .water, with a temperature of 48, 54, 59, 65. and 70deg. Fahr. respectively, and then left standing for 18 hours, after that time the number of bacteria in tho milk were again determined, and the re9ults were as follow. —

Immediately after milking, 1480 bacteria per cubic centimetre.

After 18 hours, at 48deg., 2100 bacteria per cubic centimetre.

After 18 hours, at 54deg., 5600 bacteria per cubic centimetre.

After 18 houre, at 59deg., 156,000 bacicria per cubic centimetre. : '

After 18 hours, at 65deg., 550,000 baciteria per cubic centimetre.

After 18 hours, at 70deg., 6,750,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre.'

j ' t These figures show plainly that the I inilk. should be cooled below aa ! poofi as possible alter milking, as the \ bacteria practically doubles in .number every hour, when the milk is at a higher temperature. ' ;

i In Tegard to what method should be 'employed, whether it is sufficient to leave tho milk in tho open air, or standing in » tub of water, or using: a speci-ally-constructed cooler. The first method is absolutely useless, which was shown in. spmo experiments. Of two cans of milk, each containing 801b. of milk, one was left standing in the open, nnd the other one was placed in a iuV of water. The temperature of tho milk and water and atmosphere were taken each hour, \C ■ c \ ' . ..'. ,s'sj'. Sβ ' Milk In water Ho Milk In water, £S bath. H5 , bath. %% il ii il li it k ii i& il ■y'o y* Ehsc b9 £t 9B PS ha Sβ 12 „ 90 60 90 41 83 51 88 37 , 1 59 64 81 42 M 64 79 36 ! 2 ... 56 63 ■. ■•' 75 « 65 .55 72 35 J _ 54 52 69 ,42 54 52 65 34 I A w 63 51 65 42 62 51 60 34 5 « 52 51 62 42 61 6t) 66 33 I 6 ... 61 50 61 40 50 48 52 33 i By standing the milk in water you get the milk cooled to the desired temperature, that is 69deg. in an hour, whereas this result i 3 only obtained after more ttian six hours in tho open air, even if the temperature of' atmosphere is comparatively "low. ' The reason is simply that water is a bettor conductor of heat *han air, but if water'is used it should always bo higher in the tub than the mill: in the. can. ■ . Dtiriiiij tho past few .years a number of coolers for cooling the milk on the farm immediately after milking havo been placed on the market, nnd several have shown very good results. One of the latest, which, however, has been extensively tried.before placing it on themarket, is tho ono calld th "Domico." This cooler is constructed so that cotton wool can be.placed in a receptacle on top, to act in conjunction with tho ordinary strainer, also placed in the top. 'After passing through tho strainer, tho milk enters the cooler, and in practice has been found to do good work, and the coolor is so constructed that tho

water, after passing through the cooler, con be conducted to tlin drinkinp-trounh for stock or back to another tank. Tho milk is not exposed to tho atmosphere, whilo in tho cooler. Mr. Jensen, in conclusion, showed hot/ tbe reductase test could be used lo exactly show the number ■of bacteria found in each samplo of milk, and he recommended this test wjiere milk is being graded, and paid for according to quality. ' Mr. Jensen also mentioned that most cn-operativb factories had a sot of bylaws which all shareholders are sup-

posed to have signed. 'Amongst these by-laws'ithere.is always, one relating to the milk supply, saying, that only s\veet arid piiro milk ffoin healthy ,cdws ; shall eb sent to tho factory., Why is,that by-law not -carried; out ? Why are only thesp by-laws' relating to shareholders' rights' 'carried' out, an'd not, these -' relating to his duties? .It iV the factory •■ nil.nager and- directors that. ar? supposed to see-that th't^e" .by-laws/are carried out, but.-it: is, for well-known reasons difficult, not to' say impossible, for tho factory-manager, to do.so, ,especially sor'if. , his..directors are not standing by. him.■ ■.After: all, only little'.'things are-required on the farmers'.. part to carry* out thatby-law, but'very important little things .

The world exacts..-frem yon its .toll- of worry and.work—there's no need' for'yon to add to it: Make, things as easy as you can—"Victor" "Vats lighten labour and help increase the quality of the cheese. "Vjctbr" .Vats- have that sloping bottom which -caused .such a sensation in. the cheese-making world: Every factory shpuldihavo "Victor" Vats, they are built for efficiency and satisfaction: Write.for ■particulars. Albert J, Parton, Plumber, Carterton.—Adrt. •

The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Aarency Company,: Ltd., Lcriu, reports:—At our Levin salo on Wednesday last we had a- medium entry owing, no doubt, to the rough weather. We made a good clearance at' the following prices :-20-month heifers. £2 7s. 6d.; better condition ditto, to £3 Is. :6d.; 2-year heifers, £4 2e. 6d.j forward cows, £4 7s. 6d.'; springing cows, £5 25.. 6d. to £5 17s. 'id.;' fat cbw.s to £1 75.; young bulla, £1 155., £2 103. to £3; medium bulls, £3 9e.; heavier weight bulls, £5 to £6 10s.