IMPURE MILK.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 568, 17 May 1913, Page 6

IMPURE MILK.

POLLUTION AT MILKING TIME. (By W. T. Horne.) Pollution at the time of milking arises from the animal, the milker, or unclean methods of milking. It iB now well known that in tuberculosis of the cow, affecting the udder, the milk itself shows the presence of the bacillus of tubercle. In a precisely similar manner, all bacterial d'neaßeß of the cow which affect the milk, secreting apparatus must inevitably add their quota of bacteria to the milk. There is a further contamination from the animal when it is kept un clean, for it happens that the unclean coat of a cow will more materially influence the number of micro organisms in the milk than the popularly supposed fermenting food which the ani mal may eat. It is from this external source rather than from the diet that organisms occur in the The hairy coat offers many facilities for harbouring dust and dirt. The mud and filth of every kind that may be habitually seen on the hindquarters of cattle all contribute largely to polluted milk. Nor iB this fact aurpriaing. Filth at or near the temperature of the blood is an almost perfect environment for many of the putrefactive bacteria. The milker is also a source of riak. His hands, as well as the clothes he is wear'ng, can, and do, readily con vey both innocent and pathogenic germs to the milk. Clothed in dustladen garment and frequently characterised by dirty hands, the milker may easily act as an excellent pur veyor of germs. Not a few cases are also on record where it appears that milkers have conveyed germs of disease from cases of infectious disease, such as scarlet fever in their homes. But under the more efficient registration of these diseases which has been recently characterised, in many dairy companies the danger of infection from this Bource has been reduced a great deal. The habit of moistening the hand with a few drops of milk previous to milking is one of to be strongly discouraged, as also is the influence of the barn air, as the cleanliness or otherwise of the barn is obviously a great factor in this matter. Ah we have seen moist surfaces retain any bacteria lodged upon them, but in the a dry barn, where molecuar disturbance is the rule rather than the exception, it is not surprising that he air is heavily laden with microbic, life. Here, again, many improvements have been made by sanitary cleanliness in various well known dairies. Still, there is much more to be done in this direction to ensure that the drawn milk iB not polluted by a microbic-impregnated atmosphere.