The Care of Milk.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 175, 27 January 1897, Page 2

The Care of Milk.

A writer in the Hawera Star (Mr J. W. Kenab) says : As this month and the i next are usually the hottest of the year it may be well to draw attention afresh to the above ; not but what the general ; conditions necessary to be observed in i order to make a first-class butter have , been often emphasised, yet still those are r details only, found out by practical ex* i perience, which those who do not bestow r much thought on the reasons of certain i results are apt to overlook. First we I take cleanliness as a prime essential, and i though we have had dirt before us ad nauseam (the double entendre is not in* : tentional) it is well to point oat that oar b pockets are sure to suffer very seriously , if dirty milk is supplied to a factory. r Let the manufacture of the boiler be ' quite up to date, let the appliances be of , the best, let the carriage of product by road, rail and ship be all that oare and I knowledge can make, it is all of no use, . and a low grade butter bringing a low ; price is sure to result if made from dirty milk. I care not for statements of judges i at shows that butter is first class ; that 5 butter has to stand a time trial from two ) to three months and how will it come oat 3 there is the crux of the question. Thou- [ sands of pounds more of money would, I am convinced, find its way to the pockets of Taranaki dairymen if all supplied pure milk. Do I sweepingly condemn all the dairymen of this district ? By no means. Bat, look you, if one man's milk, which i is impure, is mixed in the vat with that i of 20 others who supply the pare article , the whole gets tainted. It is for this ) reason that I assert a dirty dairyman is s morally a rogue. Morally, not perhaps - legally, because he, by his neglect, ceases > his neighbours to lose money. I have i every sympathy for the hard-worked cow I spanker, but I contend that it would be : more profitable to milk less cows and be i careful and cleanly, making a first-class i article that would cause the brand to be . sought after and yield a higher net re* i turn than to rush through a large num.* . ber anyhow and make a low-grads batter - that will be neglected. The monied , classes in England care not whi.t price i they pay so long as the artiole is the best , obtainable, and the result would be that ; we would get more money while we 5 would have a less number of cows to milk i and feed both summer and winfcir. We , give high rent for land ; we try, by giving • good prices, to get first-class cows ; We 1 pay interest on a large expenditure on buildings and plant ; and then deliber* ately throw away our money, our time, and our labor for the want of a littls care Truly we are not wise. Ido not think the suppliers of any of oar factories an better or worse in this respect than those I of another, as I have it on the authority , of an expert who visits all, or moot, that everywhere the milk is not as it should ' be. What to do ? Keep sheds eloan, all vessels ditto, these last should never have hot water put into them while milky, as the heat cooks the caret of the milk which forms a crust on the bucket or can and this can only be removed by scouring with wood ashes and othar gritty material. Keep your hands clean and wash your cow's adders whether seem*' iogly dirty or not. Wash all vessels first in tepid water and then in boiling. Cloths should be washed in several waters, all cold, before being scalded. Giye all milk to the pigs that a cow kicks dirt into. Keep the cloths that yon wash your cows with clean and air them well.