A LESSON IN MILKING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 95, 15 January 1908, Page 2

A LESSON IN MILKING.

HEALTH INSPECTOR'S LURID DIPRESj/; SIONS, . • •. A, Health Inspector wasT asked the other day by bur Manawatu-representative what ho thought of the milking conditions from a sanitation point of view in tho Manawatu district. ■■ " Well," he replied, "I. .d6u t' thnjk the conditions hero are any worse than in any other district'in New Zealand,: but this 1 would venture to say—l , speak- ; with authority, having had the opportunity of visiting many dairy farms—that- it would be hard to i=iok out thirty dairymen m the whole of the district who adhere strictly , to tho rulefc of sanitation in the construction, of their sheds, or observe cleanliness.in milking." He went' on to relate how he once, called at- milking time upon a dairyman, who boasted of the clean way in_ which his milking was conducted. Knowing he was the Health Inspector the dairyman put forth a special effort, and tho'result was as follows: The cows were brought in'to a ; large' double shed. Plenty of water was'available,'but it had not been used.to keep the floor clean.; Forty cows were milked that evening, and about two bucketfuls of water and a dirty rag were all the materials .that were Jused on the whole herd. At the end.of the operation the buckets were full of filth." The rag apd the man's hands were washed in this, and the rag was hung up to be used again the iiext day. >Aa each cow was -milked the udders were treated with a preparation of fatty matter and the operators went on to milk the next cow;. Now, when a cow wit/r short teats was 'being milked, and the milk splashed over the milker's hands, what was to prevent a quantity of . this fatty matter from'dropping into tho milk? The Inspector added that until dairymen were put under very strict supervision, there ivill always be complaints about our grading. All the writing and boasting about our grading was of no avail, for in his osperierice the only way to teach a farmer was by penalties. / '*■ ' i