CLEAN MILK

Grey River Argus, 10 August 1935, Page 10

CLEAN MILK

CAMPAIGN SUGGESTED. No one needs to be reminded that the dairy industry is passing through a critical period but there .is one thing of which every dairyman might be constantly reminded and that is to improve 'the quality of his products. From our splendid pastures a. difficulty develops; we have our feed flavours. which we pasteurise out, but feed flavours can bo very largely overcome. if not entirely done away with, by proper pasture management says the. “Dairy Exporter. There is another trouble though, which is even more serious than feed flavours and not half so pleasant to contemplate We speak of dirty milk. W e think if it were always l put that way it would be better for all of us farm era. It' mightn’t do for the term to be broadcast overseas, because they over there might fail to realise the fact that they have dirty milk too. We like to think of it as “milk of too high a bacterial count,’’ but, you may call it what you like, it's dirty mill; just the same. We pasteurise it out as best we can, just as we do with the feed flavours. But the aim of every individual farmer should be to have every pasteuriser in this country scrapped, and if every individual farmer kept that aim steadily and earnestly in view he could achieve his ambition. Difference Between Good and Bad Milk. Now, although pasteurisation might reduce obnoxious flavours and lower the bacterial count, not all the pas teurisation in the world will convert bad milk into good milk. Unfor-tum ately it has a nasty habit of destroying the good with the bad. One major complaint against our butter is that it it too “flat” in favour. Contrast it with the dairy butter where it is made under the ideal conditions on the farm and you will see what we mean. Of course, only a very small percentage of this dairy butter would survive the long trip Home, whereas the Dane can put butter very like our best’ dairy article on the London market within a few days from the time the milk is drawn from the cows. That is just where extra care on our part is imperative and perhaps we do not exercise that degree of care. If we could but market our butter with all its richness and full flavour complete there would be a marked alteration in the London butter quotations. We try to delude ourselves with the idea, that’ our butter is as good as Denmark's l , hut that is utter foolishness. No doubt the wish is father to the thought'. We can, however, capital ise our great natural advantages over the Dane by removing the. necessity for leaving the desirable flavours in our 1 butter floating in the e-ther above our dairy factories, and we can do this largely by scrupulous cleanliness, both in the surroundings of our dairies, and in our milking practices.

The Introduction of Bacteria. When it is realised just' how easy it is to introduce harmful bacteria into our milk, or perhaps it would be better lb say how hard it is to keep it out, we may begin to realise just how short of the ideal is our milking practice. Given the most ideal conditions, with careful and thorough washing and drying of the cow's udder, it is impossible to prevent' a certain number of bacteria from gaining entrance. A few a few hairs when the cow is casting her coat, and the damage is done. We can catch those hairs in the strainer, but' neither straining, nor even filtering. -will remove bacteria. Of course, it is impossible to prevent this entirely, but it would be an excellent thing if we could regard the entire surface of every cow’s body as teeming with agents of destruction doing their ut most to gain entrance to the milk. Then, perhaps, we might exercise That scrupulous cleanliness and care which are so essential. A Lead. It is very different lo get a practical interest taken in any suggestions put forward. In the words of a recent writer, “when they are mentioned approval is readily expressed, but. as a rule in a way that indicates that- these requirements in an efficient scheme have not been fully realised, and have not behind them the conviction that issues in action." It was with the object’ of stimulating interest in improved milking and shed practice that the committee of the Ka-t'i Kati Agricultural and Pastoral Society held at the recent show a striking competition. The competi tion is believed to be of a novel type in so far as it comprised both hand and machine milking, and that its principal object -was cleanliness and good shed practice. Cows were provided by Mr. A. W. T. Hyde, of Ridge View Farm, who also donated a handsome silver cup. The L.K.G. Milking Machine Company lent one of their milking machines and Mr. Roberts, electrician, of Hamilton, provided an electrical steam steriliser and a rapid water heater. The competition was open to com petitors of all ages and both sexes?. Each competitor was asked to milk a cow approximately ‘ ‘ half out. ’ ’ by machine and finsh by hand. The method of marking will be of interest to other associations which wish to conduct similar competitions A maximum of 100 marks was allotted each competitor, and marks were deducted for those faults likely to affect the quality of the milk. These points were as follows:

Method of leg roping, washing udder and points l of teats, rejecting first milk from teats, state of washing cloth and water used, fastening cow's tail, contamination of hands while milking, styles of milking, putting teat cups off and on, stripping thoroughly, attention to udder after milking, releasing leg rope, visible dirt in milk, excessive ‘time taken.

Asa final test for visible dirt a pint of milk from each competitor's bucket was put through a sediment pump and points' were deducted according to 'the amount of deposit appearing on the pads. The competition was a great success there being an entry of about sixteen competitors. It was found that tho time taken per competitor varied between 8 and 14 minutes.

Mr. C. V. Carry er, of Hamilton, acted as judge and afterwards gave a demonstration. Mr. Carryer used his own utensils and showed by a very simple technique how contamination could be eliminated. The effort should not be to clean visible dirt from entering tho milk. The farmers present were greatly impressed by the success of the sediment pump test when applied to Mr.

Carryer’s own milking. For his demonstration. in order more conclusively to prove his methods, he did not wash the udder of his 1 cow, but the teats only. There is one real difficulty facing those who wish to emulate the Kati Kati association in this very important experiment. The cows for the competition must be arranged for. In this case 16 cows were required, and some enthusiast is wanted to take tre necessary Trouble and put up with the slight disorganisation of routine entailed. At Kati Kati Mr Hyde, who did the organising, also, by leading his cows?, made the competition possible. Very great, credit is due to him. ‘ If is confidently believed that a great improvement will take place in milk production at Kati Kati. There are 16 farms at any rate, which are now keen upon improving their meth ods. The interest, however, was nor confined to competitors, as was shown by the constant stream of spectators throughout The competition and dem onstration, which lasted the whole of the day. Au Example to be Followed. It is to he sincerely hoped that other associations will follow this? lead. There are immense possibilities in a clean milk campaign. We see no rea son why the scheme could not be elab orated upon. It might be possible to have “a clean milk class’’ at many of our shows, without ,'there being any necessitv to have the cows on the grounds/ After the entries had closed, an inspector could he appointed (preferably, hut not necessarily, a departmental officer) and it could be made clear that a visit would be paid to the sheds of the entrants within/ a certain defined limit of the time. I Samples could then be taken of the J

Uli k in the vat and an analysis made of them later. This should work simply and smooth|y and should . have increasing support. Farmers might be slow at taking it up at first but, to our ' mind, it should develop a “qualify consciousness." Good quality milk is as important as a high yielding herd, and we can visualise a growth of the milk testing scheme just as there has been expansion of the herd ‘tes-fiugZ movement.