Lime as a Dairy Wash.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 250, 19 November 1903, Page 4

Lime as a Dairy Wash.

A Victorian dairy farmer at present travelling on the Continent sends notes of an interview he was favoured with on this subject by M. Bog'gekl, the official dairy instructor, in Denmark :- He said that there is often occasion to emphasise that It may be necessary to distinguish between cleaning and disinfecting. It was conceded that the cleanliness witii which, for practical reasons, they had to be satisfied with in their factories in no way satisfies the strict demand for hygiene which must -be applied in lighting contagious diseases in a herd ; but on the other •hand, it was generally acknowledged that tlie best possible cleanliness was equally desirable on account of the health of the cows and the develop!inent of their disease-resisting powers as it was in securing line and uniform dairy products. Ten years ago, he said, heat was used in the fight against bacteria. Steam was employed liberally, and the result was the warping of churns and cream barrels. The floors were scrubbed with boiling water, and it was even proposed to scald the •drains, which increased instead of ■decreasing the smell. At present it is an exception when a churn is steamed. All wooden utensils are rinsed and scrubbed, first with cold or lukewarm water to remove the milk, and. then they are covered with a coat of thick mush of slaked lime. After ten or twnety minutes, or later, the churns (or other utensils) are scrubbed with the lime and cold water, and at last with water hot enough to make the wood dry quickly. Lime is used for cleaning in nearly all Danish factories, not only for woodware, but also for tinware, and for scrubbing the floors. It took some time to introduce it, as the butter-makers, to begin with, had their hands affected by the lime, but when- they once learned to use it they had no' trouble, and the use of steam as well as soda has been reduced. Lime is now also used more and more in place of oil paint, which is often ruined by the dampness or beat in the factories, and porcelain tiles are, as a rule, expensive, whereas lime is cheap and easily applied. It is ofte* objected that the lime will p<el off, but HI. BoggeUi did not deem that a drawback in the factories or cow-'iou.,es, because it was. so much easj.er to clean. To wash a painted wall is no easier than to brush off a whitewashed one with a stiff brush and give it a new coat, and it is certainly cheaper to start with.