Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 156, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1911 — The Care of Milk and Cream [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Care of Milk and Cream

By H. C. MILLS

Dairy ParJm Jterfas

Purdue University Agricultural Extension.

*. Milk and cream «a easily be class.<qA among the most perishable prod* <icts ot the farm aa well aa the most * valuable. Frequently these products receive the poorest kind at treatment •nd the least effort is made for their protection from the Injuries to which ‘they are susceptible. Especial care must be used at this season of the year If these products are to reach the market In first class condition. The first step is to keep ' the milk clean, and the second to keep r-lt cold. Warm, unclean milk becomes tainted, sour or “rotten" In a few .hours. Cold, clean milk, remains «w<mk ' delicious and wholesome for many hours. -r’t, The Milking. .The production of clean milk necessarily starts with the milking of the cows. Clean cows can be milked in clean bams with clean hands at this • season of the year with less effort than at any other, as the cows are In the bam usually but a short time" each <ay. If the manure is kept removed from the bam and the bam kept clean, the

breeding places for flies will be removed and the files will be less numerous. Flies are a source of infecHon to milk because they carry filth -into It. Cleaning of Utensil*. > Ah especial effort must be made to keep all utensils thoroughly clean. Old,

rusty, battered buckets and cans should be discarded and all utensils used should bo carefully washed and scalded. It any milk Is left in the seams of buckets or cans it becomes a source of Infection for any fresh milk or cream that may come in contact withit A good, “stiff fibre” brush is best tor washing dairy utensils, and the use of sal soda or washing powder is advisable. Cooling of Milk or Cream. As soon as obtained, the milk or cream, If a cream separator is used, should be cooled at once to a temperature of at least 54 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature of well water on the average farm. The use of an aerator and cooler are advisable. Every farm that is producing dairy products should have a suitable place for storing them. Too frequently farms that afford good bams tor sheltering live stock, and substantial storage houses for the field crops, have no adequate place for keeping milk and Its products. Milk, cream and butter quickly absorb surrounding odors, and for this reason, if kept in the kitchen, in the cellar or in the refrigerator containing other articles, undesirable flavors may be produced in these dairy products. A small milk house can be built for a small amount of money. A trough can be placed in it in which cans of milk or cream can be set All water pumped for stock can be run through this trough. Cans about one foot in diameter, known as "shot gun” cans, afford rapid cooling facilities. The milk or cream should be stirred to hasten the cooling, bringing the milk or cream In contact with the cool surface of the can. If nothing better can be afforded, a barrel should be purchased, sawed In two and placed by the pump. A can of mine can be set in this naif barrel and surrounded with cold water. The water in the half barrel should be changed frequently enough to keep the water cooL Cream that is kept for any length of time should be stirred occasionally so that the top surface will not dry and to keep the cream' uniform throughout If this Is not done, a layer of dried cream forms on the surface which makes accurate sampling difficult for the hauler or may cause white specks in the butter If the cream is churned at homo.

A Simple Method for Cooling Milk Or Cream.