FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 67, 28 June 1910, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY

CLEAN MILK. FROM COW TO CHEESE PRESS. SOME PLAIN SPEAKING. The following .paper, prepared by the Factory Manager's Association, was read at Palmerston oil Wednesday:— A dairy farmer once as'ked his hired man. to keep everything clean, so that there would be no germs to get into the mfflk. "Germs!" said Pat; "I don't gee any." "Neither do you see the devil," said the farmer, ''but you know very well he is round: about." Milk drawn from a cow under the best conditions, and exposed to a pure atmosphere, takes up the germ which produces lactic acid, or in otner 'words a "clean sour," which is so essential in the manufacture of cheese or butter. The greater portion of the milk that goes to, the factory today is so full of foreign microibe life that, if let to ripen by itself, would never attain that end, but wouild produce flavors that would damage the manufactured article. SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION.

The longer a byre is used for milking the harder it is to produce good milk from it, unless it is kept under the most favorable conditions. If a man could see with the naked eye the ugly microbe life that surrounds some of these old cow-bails that have never been properly cleaned, or round an old leaky whey tank, he would gird up his loins and run for his life.

There are many causes through which milk becomes contaminated. Milking .with -wet and dirty hands is one of the worst; then there are yards that have no proper drainage; cow-tails where milk gets on the floor and is never washed out; milk stands that are too close to the cow-yard; or erected in positions where the ' prevailing; winds blow from the yards to the milk stands, or stands that have been too long in one place, where milk has been spilt and the place allowed to become a home of germ life; milk cans and buckets that have not 'been washed clean and scalded and kept .in a clean place; milters that robe themselves in dirty clothes at milking time instead of in the cleanest; milk carts that seldom get washed, with their myriads of germs tha.t go to the factory every morning for. a, drive with their owner and his milkj' receiving cans of milk shutes that have not been properly washed and scalded'; leaky vats that have been neglected until' the place is filled with microbes. "ALL THESE EVILS HAVE A REMEDY." Aill these evils have, a remedy. In milking, the cow's 'udders, if dirty, should be Washed with clean water. If the teats and- udders are not soiled, a wipe with a damp cloth will prove sufficient, and'' the cow should be milked with dry hands. We believe that milking with wet and dirty hands is one of the greatest curses, that follows the industry. Good drainage is essential to keep the byres sweet and clean. Most dairymen have concrete floors in their milk sheds, but how many, wash them after the milking'is over? There is always more or less milk spilled on the floor during milking, which soon becomes an offence if not washed out. Plenty ot limes prinkled on the floor and swept out after everything is absorbed is a good substitute; but water is cheaper and better! Milk should be removed to the stand immediately each cow is milked; and cooled to a teinplrature of. 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Milk-stands should be. some distance from the yards, and as there is very little wind from the east, they should be placed to the west of. the yards and sheds, where possible. If the stands have been in. use for a number- of years, or erected under the shelter of trees, thfey should be shifted to open ground, where there is plenty of pure freslr air! Milk carts should be kept clean; ■ A dirty cart and miik cans so filthy on the , outside that the man on the'receiving stage cannot take delivery of the mi'lk without getting; his hands' and clothes soiled, is a true sign of bad milk. We always find that tne cleanest cart brings the best milk to the factory. i

PROCEDURE. AT THE FACTORY. At the factory the manager should see that the weigh.-cans, milk-chutes, vats, and everything else used: in connection with the • manufacture of milk into' 'butter and cheese is . thoroughly sweet and clean. In receiving milk the manager should i>e just and firm, showing no partiality, and. refuse all I milk that will not prpduce a first-class article. If milk is received at the factory in an over-ripe condition, sufficient starter cannot he used to help the flavor, and if a vat works too fast a loss results, and the faster the vat works the greater the loss. By cooking a. fast vat may he raised 3 or 4 degrees higher than usual, then run most of the. whey off and add water, being careful when the time comes, to draw all the whey from the curd. Then add sufficient cold water to cool the curd to the ordinary temperature. A fairly good cook can be obtained; but the chances are that the flavor will ibe anything but good. Bad flavors, caused by germs getting into the milk after it is taken from the cow, cause our cheese to deteriorate, and in time to' decay. On the other hand, feed flavors mostly disappear as the cheese matures. With the majority of milk suppliers the feed flavors become the scapegoat for anything that is not good. A man has been known to milk his cows in a filthy way, in unclean surroundings, stir the milk with a dirty .stick, then' bring the milk to the factory, and, when lie was told that the flavor was above the required strength, he said it must be something the cows had eaten. ( A WORD TO THE WISE,

The time has now arrived for those men who are now producing a first-class article to say that they will no longer allow their miilk to lie "pooled" with that of inferior quality, which will cause the careless and indifferent man either to depart from his "ancient habits" or no out of the business. Most of our dairy factories are equipped with machinery'typical of the first water, which greatly facilitates the manufacture of cheese and butter, and- were it not for the lamentable fact of the few more careless farmers' contaminating, the well-cared-for (product of the • progressive ones, Xew Zealand's dairy produce at the present dav would be nearing the goal of perfection. The paper was 'briefly discussed, and the meeting heartily thanked the Factory Managers' Association for the interest'taken in the affairs of the dairymen, as illustrated by the paper read.