DAIRYING NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 358, 7 March 1902, Page 1

DAIRYING NOTES.

(George Thomas Palmer, M.D.)

Having the herd and having them tested as advanced scientific knowledge dictates, the care will he productive of the best results is exceedingly important. The cow is very susceptible to external influences. In subjecting the animal to storms and hard weather invariably leaves its mark upon the milk. The dairy cow should never be permitted to drink from pools or from running streams, especially in localities which are well populated, for these ponds and creeks probably contain the refuse of a dozen farms and a half hundred households. Pure spring or well water should be given with regularity and in abundance from troughs which are easily cleansed. For this purpose nothing answers" better than enamelled iron basins. The food should he well selected and plentiful and should not be of soft, sloppy varieties, such as distillery or brewery refuse. It should never he kept in lofts above where it is constantly contaminated by the foul odours from below. Great care should he exercised in regard to suddenly turning the animals out in the spring to indulge in overfeeding of green grass, which might cause bowel complaints among the children living upon the milk.

GREAT CLEANLINESS ESSENTIAL WITH THE COWS. The personal hygiene of the cow is most important. The dairy animal should he curried and combed twice daily. The floors of the milking stalls should hr. of stone, cement, or concrete, and should be carefully scrubbed before the cow is brought in, and left wet, so that no dust will fly from them. A rope or strip of cloth siiouli he suspended across the rear of the stall, separating the tail from the hind legs, to prevent the tail from switching dirt into the pail. Preceding the milkers, an assistant should wash the udders, first with soap and then with clean water, at the same time looking carefully for any spots or abrasions. If such sores exist, the animal must he at once isolated from The milkers themselves should have nothing to do with this preparatjjry work but should be ready to lollow the washer at once. Their costumes should be pure white from bead to foot, ireluding linen caps, so tnat their clothing may he protected »rom dirt and grease, which may later oe sources of contamination. The hands should he washed first, with soap, then soaked in a solution of some mild an tiseptic and washed again. The first few streams from each teat are allowed to fall mto a ietuse bucket, thereby washing the dirt J dust out. of the milk channels. Inc balance is caught in a cleanimkiviL After milking one cow the m' l * hurried to the carrier s can, whwli iimmediately taken to the dairy. In twelve minutes after leaving the co r ot m oV n 4e S in fmp|rlmt points m all scientific da,ry mctmdv Even the deeper: glandular tissue t milV ««”S “Xti low temperatures, and if mll , ' ~ ed enough after milking and kept cold, it "will keep for days.