THE DAIRY, FARM, AND FIELD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 21, 26 January 1900, Page 2

THE DAIRY, FARM, AND FIELD.

"The Farmers are the Founders of v civilization Whbstbs. t c A USEFUL PUBLICATION. 8 An advance copy of this useful ' almanac, The Live Stock Jowrnal ' Almanac, .1900," is to hand. It is well ' got-up, containing much valuable in- ' formation, and is profusely illustrated. In addition to the usual elaborate breeders' tables, lists of various Societies, and advertisements having reference to breeders of pure stock, together with other information indispensable to all interested in domesticated animals, it contains as many as fifty special articles and about forty illustrations. Without attempting to indicate the full scope of these articles, which ra the whole are clearly foreibly written, a few may %a ate*tione4 tea showing the subjects dealt vith. There is an excellent paper by Sir Richard D. Green Price, who discusses the question of " agricultural shows and how to maintain them." He advances several suggestions that are worthy of consideration. Professor Ourtiss, from t lowa, U.S.A., gives his impressions of British stock, formed during a visit to , England last summer. Mr. William

Houseman deals with the production of J® fixed varieties from mixed varieties of ■■ stock. Breeders will read with interest ' Mr. 0. Morgan Richardson's hints on 8 the formation of a herd. Dr. F. H. 8 Bowman is well qualified to throw light 1 on the subject of " wool and its pros- 1 pects," and his paper will be carefully 1 read by sheep breeders. In addition to 1 these articles, and many others of 1 great interest, nearly every prominent ' pure breed of cattle, horses, sheep and j pigs is dealt with by an expert. These ; reviews have been carefully prepared, J and the various articles written there- 1 in have been contributed by men who are regarded as eminent authorities on the various breeds. The work should be popular amongst those for whom it 1 is intended, and the present issue maintains its former excellence. The journal is cheap—only Is; post free, Is 4d. The publishers are Messrs. Yinton and Company, 9, New Bridge-street, London, E.G. CLEANLINESS IU DAIRYING. In continuation of this subject, referred to the week before last, we must remember that it may not be the dirt itself that gives rise to so much trouble and annoyance to the butter-maker, but that it is the undesirable kinds of bacteria which pass into the milk along with the dirt, as they exist in untold numbers in these objectionable contributions, and tend to destroy the quality of the manufactured article, J and consequently give it a less marketf able value. As a result of a want of

cleanliness, in butter especially, the ' most annoying effect of the intvoduc- ' t-ion of undesirable bacteria is the j early development of butyric acid, and j the consequent rancidity of the butter. From many experiments made with ' rogard to the keeping qualities of butter j made from that had been separ- . ated from milk subjected to unfavourable condition", such as dirty buckets and milk cans, slovenly milking, im- . purs air, etc., and other cream that was free from all undesirable bacteria, 1 [ am firmly convinced that uncleanly | handling of the milk is more directly responsible for many bad flavours and ■ anoiility in butter than is indicated by any 'authority I have read or heard speak on the subject. The remedy for this is ent'rely in the hands of the dairyman, and should be his first care. Having said so much with regard to the necessity for cleanliness, let us now briefly consider how milk should be treated right from the cow till it is delivered to the creamery platfoim. I

VESSELS* j All buckets, eans, and strainers I should be made of the bost tin—if. possible, without seams, and where there are seams and joints they should be I smoothly filled up with solder. Milk cans, which frequently have to hold milk for 14 or 16 hours, should he free from rust; for the simple reason that such places retain decaying matter which is difficult to remove. All utensils that have held milk should be rinsed in water at a temperature from 70 to 80, then washed thoroughly in water from 100 to 110 with the aid of soap and soda, then rinse in water at boiling point, if possible, and lastly, expose in the sunlight for a few hours in a dry, clean spot, free from dust, if possible. If this method be adopted, your tinware will be kept clean, sweet, bright and perfect. COWSHED. This should be roomy, airy and light, and us free as possible from bad air and impure smells. The inside should be well whitewashed or painted—the former is preferable—and the shed kept sweet and clean. Milking in the open has many advantages, for you avoid the filth and contamination of a neglected and badly-kept shed. It, however, has ',wo serious objections: first, the discomforts of milking during rain, and tho evil effects of the drippings from the cow, which pass into the pail with tho milk. As an illustration of the above contention, let me instance what happened so " .Vgricola" a few weeks ago.j i Justness required that I should call upon a dairyman, who is, I believe, a director of " Co-operative Dairy Company," just about the hour of evening milking. He milks from 80 to 100 •ows. The shed was approached, but for a farmer with a fairly clean pair of unmentionables, and boots that had a suspicion of " Day and Martin " —3O yards from him was as near as I could safely get. Muck everywhere—above, below, and around. In due time the farmer came out of the shed, and this was his appearance : the clothes were guaranteed to kill at 50 yards, his arms •wi-u barn, but, from the tips of tho shssjers to the elbow, covered with cowilu.ig aiul mack. As the result of milking the back of tho hands and besv.oua the lingers were ,-J-ineh thick •.v-ii-It lilthy ocsuaiulations of dirt 5 and ciiis rosm professes to deliver milk in \ condition to the creamery ! The j , «w is not an overdrawn picture, but j 1 i' :'s. I say advisedly of milk offered manufacture under such.conditions | | 5 ( 10.l Almighty has net yet made j j .'1 : batter-man who can turn out a | d/st-quality article from it. SU!,:UNG. ■ ... ij ; ; jo that the udder is fretevfrSt#.'all | 1.r.; if iie v--'s-iry, ronnve a dry IciocU or tivush. ftu a4w\-

tage to washing. In some cases, how-, OV'er, it is absolutely necessary to wash with water, but it should be done thoroughly, and afterwards dried. Milk ■ i quietly, quietly and kindly; remember | always to strip cows effectively. I have found by experiments that the first pint of milk contains from I's to 2-1 of butter ,fat; the best pint drawn will frequently contain from 7'5 to 9 - 6 of the essential quality of good milk. In fact, the last drawn is the valuable portion. Milk with damp teats. On this point I differ with experts, for the simple reason it appears more natural and can be done more expeditiously. In advocating wet as against dry milking, there is one condition that should be insisted on, *nd that is that after j

every cow the milker should wash his hands. It will not take up much time, only ft few momenta, and is absolutely I essential to cleanliness. ! STRAINING AHD jBBATION.

Immediately the cow is milked re- j move the milk from the cowshed to your milk-stand. Pass the milk through two thicknesses of open woven : cotton or woollen cloth and an serator, having the latter provided with a fine c brass wire strainer, the liner the better. Th« advantage of cloth straining is j that it removes fine particles of dirt ( and retains a considerable number of | bad germs. These cloth strainers should be kept clean and pure, and as ■ soon as they show signs of colour , should be discarded. During milking , stir, if possible, the milk frequently; not , with a stick simply: that is practically : useless. To whirl milk round and rouad is of little use. The best instrument for | this purpose is a tinned iron rod 3ft. 6in. long, with a good stout tinned plate attached to one end, about 9in, in diameter, perforated with three or four l|in. holes, and churn the milk up and down. This thoroughly mixes the top and bottom milk, and makes the temperature even throughout. On no account have your milk-stand attached to the cow-shed. This is a fatal mistake. Place it sufficiently far from the shed to avoid any bad odours arising therefrom; and, if practicable, let the prevailing wind blow from the stand to the shed. Keep the surround-

lings pure and sweet around the stand, ( and cover it with a roof to prevent j rain from falling into the cans. After j milking, stir three or four times, the last time as late as possible; then again < the first thing in the morning. This | will cause the cream to mix readily , with the milk, and will insure you the , best results from testing. , Never put more than seven or eight gallons of milk in each can at night, and . on no pretence whatever use any preservative or chemical of any kind, never mind how harmless, to keep your night's milk sweet. If you do it, ( and it is right for you, it is right for every other supplier to do the same, j The consequence of such action will be i o cripple the best efforts of the ablest butter-maker in New Zealand. Every supplier who carelessly neglects the element of cleanliness, and covers his fault with the use of a chemical, should be expelled from any factory. One other point is of importance, and that is that no part of the mornt ing's milk should be mixed with the night's mess. '' These simple precautions, speaking

from my own experience, will secure the delivery at overy creamery of milk containing a minimum amount of dirt, of good quality, sweet and pure so fa> as the dairyman is concerned, and will gladden the heart of many a factory manager to-day. In giving my experience on this important question, I realise fully that, as a dairyman, the case has not been put so fully and clearly as it deserves before my readers, but if more attention is given to the matter of cleanliness in handling milk my object will be attained. Of one thing I am convinced, that while it is possible to improve the quality of butter made from milk that, has been badly cared for by certain factory methods that do not come within the scope of my " Notes," it is admitted by all that there is no method nor process so far known by which badly cared for milk can be made to produce the very best quality of butter or cheese. The departments of the work are in our own hands, and it is our fault, and ours alone, if we do not reach perfection. Aguicola.