FARMING NOTES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4448, 2 August 1922, Page 1

FARMING NOTES.

CARE OF MILK. (Bv A. A. McKenzie, Dairy Instructor, Palmerston North, in the Journal of Agriculture.) Care of milk on the farm is a matter of vital importance to the dairy industry. Almost all the defects incur cheese and butter are directly due te the lack of. proper, care ofl the raw material during and after milking. One of the chief sources of trouble is found tn unclean milking machines. Complete instructions *or their cleaning wer.e recently issued by the Director of the Dairy Division, but a few special points may he dealt with here. It is a common belief that boiling is detrimental to the rubbers: this is not so —weekly boiling lengthens their life. Exhaustive tests have proved conclusively that it is an impossibility to keep milking machines clean without boiling. Experiments have also proved that chemicals such as chloride of- lime, etc., are of ho use in so far as reducing bacteria is concerned.

In connection with the cleaning of milking machines, I have often found the milk system clean and the vacuum neglected. On pointing this out to many dairymen it is Pound they had been of opinion thjat a foul vacuum system did not make its presence felt. This is not the case, and scores of instances cou,ld be given where the cause of unsound milk from certain farms was traced to the vacuum system. After a thorough system of cleaning was adopted all trouble disappeared.

Slimy milk, the bugbear of cheesemakers, has been traced to machiines that were in bad condition, and any cheese factory that has one or t.wo slimy vats per week is losing more than one man’s wages, as the consequent yield of cheese is materially reduced.

Many cans of milk that would otherwise be Of good quality are badly contaminated by absorbing the smell ofl the shed and yard during the night. This is brought about by having the milk-sta ( nd on the sheltered side of the shed, which allows the prevailing wind to carry the objectionable smell direct to the milk.- In many cases the milk-stand is practically within the yard. Milk-stands should be erected on the windward en l of the shed, and well away from any yard smell. Where the yard -s so constructed that it surrounds the shed there is Only one remedy, namely, to place the milk caps containing the yvilk on the cart and draw it out to clean surroundings. In instances where tried this procedure has immediately overcome the trouble. Any dairy farmer can prove this for himself by leaving an open sample of milk in a wholesome atmosphere well away from any yard Or other smell, and comparing the two lots iii the morning. Both utensils must, of course, be equally clean beforehand. A common practice is tp have th a evening's milk held overnight in cans almost full. -The supplier who does so is courting trouble. Withi such 1 large quantity of milk it takes considerably longer to get rid of. the animal heat and as germ life thrives to a greater degree in milk of such temperature it naturally follows that it is sound sense to assist cooling as quickly as possible. Where it is possible to have a water cooler installed this is advisable. The dairyman will soon repay .himself for. the outlay and save himself many- anxious hours on a stuffy warm night. At many farms, however, there is no available water supply for cooling. In such cases the evening’s milk should be spread into all the available cans. It must also be remembered that fhe cream rises quickly, forming a fatty cover over the top, through which tne .animal heat escapes but slowly. If the milk is well plunged with a metal plunger two or three times at intervals during the evening this will be fou|nd of great assistance in eliminating strong flavoured and oven-ripe milk.. The use o f a wooden batten for this purpose is most harmful. The wood in time becomes saturated with milk, and when scraped gives off a yehbw slime, similar to and producing the same effect as that found in unclean machines, buckets, and milk cams. As this yellow substance is teeming with germ life it naturally follows that every care is necessary to keep it in check.

Many instances have come under my notice where the evening’s milk has Been severely ( dealt with by exposure to the morning sun. Only a small outlay of labour and cash is required to erect a shade. It is not suggested that a milk house be erected—merely a roof, afnd one wall, or one high wall only, depending on the position of the stand.

A feature most noticeable on the receiving stage at any of our factories is the number of suppliers who mix warm and cold milk. This not only causes a loss to the supplier by loosening a fair portion of fat which will be foujul floating on top in pellets and clusters, but also causes in many cases a higher acidity in the evening’s milk, to the detriment of the article. Owing to such mixing it has been found necessary to reject milk which would have been quite acceptable otherwise. Having reached the stage of delivery to the factory, a few hints on the care of tlie cans m,ay be ofl value. The most general practice is to fill up the empty cans with whey or skim.-milk. While this is bad practice it may be unavoidable in most cases. These cans, however, should be emptied immediately on. returning to the farm, well scrubbed with hot water and soda, then rinsed with boiling water

and left standing in the sun, tops up, and open, or. lying on the side, so that any available sunlight may have full effect. Cans that have had whey left standing in them for some time are exceedingly difficult to clean: tne penetrating acid in the whey enters the metal, and, being persistent in action, is hard to remove. Warm milk placed in whey-logged cans and held overnight is tainted, gassy, and often over-ripe when delivered lo the factory next monning. Suppliers have no doubt often noticed a soured coating of milk adhering to the bottom of the can aijter tipping the milk. 1 have found this comnion trouble to immediately disappear after a thorough washing and scalding system has been adopted. This souring, of course, only occurs in extreme cases, and many cans deliver whey-tainted milk which can only be detected by the flavour. Cheese manufactured from such milk is not of good flavour, and owing to the presence of gas is inclined to openness. Milk buckets should be treated to the same cleaning and sunlight as the cans. Any kerosene or benzine tins which are in use as milk buckets should be carefully gathered and, after having the bottoms kicked out, dropped into a deep gully. Cloths used with the idea of cleaning niilk utensils should accompany them. Kerosene tins, not being intended for milk pails, are not soldered round the inside seam, which is simply turned, and they arc almost impossible to clean. A cloth at best is only a harbour for germs, and a poor kind of scrubber at any time. A good scrubbing brush, will stand a lot of weight when in use, and can afterwards be placed in the sun to sweeten. The use of a cloth as a milk strainer is very often the cause of faulty milk. It is much more sanitary to have a proper gauze strainer; the gauze can be easily cleaned and cheaply replaced when worn. Strainer cloths in a short time become yellow, and all milk passed through becomes well impregnated.

When washing up any milking utensils or whey cans the milk-stand should on po account be used as a wash-up bench. All around the milkstand must be sweet and dry.