INTERESTING TO DAIRYMEN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 19 June 1925, Page 10

INTERESTING TO DAIRYMEN.

CAHK OF MILK OK FARMS. | '[ lie above was the title of a lecture o-iyen bv Air. \\ . Grant, dau\ instructor' at the South- Taranaki farm echoed at Manaia on Wednesday. The rare of milk oil the iann is a mater of vital importance to the dairying industry. Practically peaking, nearlv all the defects in our buttei and cheerse are more or less due to the lack of proper care of the raw material during and after milking. Growth of Industry. It. might be interesting at this stage to orjye a few figures in connection with* the growth of the industry in the last few years. During the year 1924 we exported to Britain more butterfat in the wav of cheese and butter than did any' other dairying country iu the world. For idle your Qpcung March 31, 1915—just ten years ago—we exported into Great Britain produce to the value of £4,687,381. Then for the year just ended on 31st March, 1925, we exported cheese unci butter to the value*of about £18,500,000. This means an increase in value of over 300 per cent. Tuene figures' give sonic conception of -he great increase in production 1 and value that has taken place in the last ten years. Quality. The importance of good quality in our butter ancl cheese wias never greater than at the present time. We are experiencing growing competition from all dairying countries in the world, most of them much, nearer the British market than we are. Both Australia and Canada „are making every effort to improve the quality of their output, and have adopted a grading system similar to what we have in this country. We cannot therefore afford to sit and rest on our oars, but must endeavour in every way to not only keep up the quality of our produce, but to improve it. Pastures. ‘To get the best returns from the herd it is essential that the cows should be well wintered, and come into profit in .good condition, and then onward right through the .season should have plenty of good succulent food. The pastures should be clean, with plenty of good grass. One cannot expect to get good results front cows if they are short of clean, wholesome food.

Good drinking water .should he available for cattle at all times, and should be easy of acce-sis. In hot weather during the summer and early autumn months, cows drink large quantities of water, and if they cannot get enough, it will rfleet their returns, and the drop in the quantity, of milk given will soon be noticeable. Cows.

It is most important, that all the cows in milk .should be healthy and m good condition. On no account should milk be used from a cow that is sick or diseased in any way. The milk from, such -a cow should •always he discarded. The milk from a newlycalved cow should not be used lor at least three days, hue in many cases a longer time .should be allowed belore the''milk is used. The length of time allowed depends on the state of the milk. Milk from a cow not properly cleansed should never be used.

Treatment- ancl Handling of Cow.s. The c-ow.s should *be handled with care and kindness, for. unless they are given kindly treatment their best production will not he reached. A cow hunted in with dogs and roughly handled in the yard and shed will not and cannot- do her best, and it is unreasonable to expec-t her to do so. it is a paying business to handle cows quietly and kindly. Before milking the udders of the c-ows should be washed. Commonsense will tell the average milker that on udder which has been dragged through the mud requires- washing well and drying before a ,start is made at milking. , - During the Summer in dry weather, where the surroundings are. clean, a clean damp cloth may be quite sufficient to do wha.t is required to the udder. All .washing of udders should be done with clean water and a clean cloth. A dirty cloth should never be used, as it spreads contamination. Cleanliness i<s just as important in this part of the dairy work as in any other. SHEDS. The -deal site for a milking shed is not -available on every farm, as.several points have to be considered in making a selection. The best site is a level, dry piece of land which has sufficient elevation to provide fall for drainage. A good site means better Conditions around the shed. Since the advent of the milking machine, it has been proved that many of the old type of shed were unsuitable and inconvenient for the use of milking machines. The use of these machines called for a new type of shed which allowed more rapid handling of the cows. For a clean sanitary shed of this type, what- is known as .the “walk through” jlust about fills the bill. This type of shed can be confidently recommended for either hand or machine milking. It is easily kept clean, and gives quick despatch in the handling of the cows. When milked, the cows go straight through the door in front of them, which reduces the wear on the floor, and if the doors are left open during the day the -atmosphere in the shed will become sweet-. In all cowsheds cleanliness should he the first, consideration, although this is often neglected. Once dirt- gets into the milk it is not easily got rid of. The thing to- aim at is to prevent it getting in at all. Dirt- germs in the milk soon increase, and spoil the flavour and keeping quality of the manufactured article.

The most important pa it of the. shed is. the floor, and for this purpose, concrete is easily the best material. In the first instance it should be well laid on a solid foundation of sufficient thickness to .stand good for years. There should be a- slight fall to the gutter, which requires to be wide and shallow, with rounded edges ancl fall to end of shed. The floor of the shed should never be allowed to get covered with, mud or filth, hut should be washed down and cleaned out alter every milking.

AIL drainage from the shed should be run into a liquid manure tank or a, portable tank on a sledge, which is probably handier .and better. This can be drawn out into paddock by a horse, and emptied there when fall. This makes good manure, and it pays to stive dt.

The practice of discharging drainage into small creeks has some objectionable features, ms it contaminates the water, which is probably being used by (Someone, further clown its eourfie. A plentiful supply of water is a necessity in a milking shed if cleanliness is ito> be obtained. A shed with

a poor supply is usually dirty, and the] ; milk received' from it- is very often j I faulty. Well water is beiSit, on account of its suitability for cooling milk { and cream. Every dairy .shed should make provision for a supply of boiling water. The ordinary built-in copper does firstrate. In some districts electric heaters are used. They also are satisfactory. Every dairy should be supplied with proper conveniences; for cleaning the various utensils, so that the work ■ can be done thoroughly and with a , minimum of labour. Brushes are l much better than cloths, as they rei move the dirt and get into corners • better. A dirty cloth i>s only a breeding place for undesirable genus. The placing of the milk stand is of great importance. It should be- placed ! on .the windward side of tb.e shell, well 1 away from the yard and shed. Many : cans of milk have been contaminated by absorbing the; smell arming from 1 the yard during the night. The milk stand .should not be used for washing* up purposes. All around the stand » should be sweet and dry. ' No stock of any description should be allowed r about if. Mi ik. ; Lt has been shown by experiment 1 that milk drawn from a healthy cow in - perfectly ■ e : eau surroundings will keep i for an indefinite period without mate- ; rial change if sealed up in a sterile > vessel. While such conditions are not ; to be found on the average farm, the , nearer they can be approached the better will be tire condition of the ini’k produced.

The care ol milk for direct delivery to a factory is a fairly simple matter, piovided ordinary cleanliness has been observed in the production. The coo 1 - ing cf milk should be done immediately it is drawn from the cow, by passing it over a water cooler to reduce the temperature to within a few degrees of that of the water available. The colder the water the better, as the colder the water the coo’er the milk, and the cooler the milk the longer it will keep good. If there is no provision, made for cooling, spread the night’s milk over all the cans in use by means of a tray having a hole for each can, but do not mix night’s and morning’s milks toaether. Stir the night’s milk frequently with a metal plunger during the evening. This will help to cool the milk, as we’l as assisting to get rid of the animal odour and food flavours. A wooden stirrer is no good for this purpose, as it soon becomes saturated with milk, and itself harbours undesirable flavours.

The objectionable flavours which occur in milk may be.divided into two classes, i.c.. food flavours and flavours due to contamination. Food flavours are due to the use of certain strong foods, such as rape, turnips, cabbage, etc., which impart their characteristic flavour to the milk. In this district the usual practice is to pull and cart out the turnips, etc., the day before tier aie used, that they may winter in the sun. This seems to make the flavour not so pronounced. These feeds should be given to cows, immediately after milking ; in no case, should they be given shortly before a milking. Flavours duo to 1 contamination are caused b<- undesirable germs getting nto the mi’k after it has been drawn from the cow. I have tried to show hat these may arise from several ••arises, viz., milk-stand in wrong place, sheds not kept clean, utensils not pro\x {leaned, dirty milking machines (of which wo have more to say), or even tin unsuitab'e site for a shed where the drainage cannot got properly away. The unclean milking machine is no doubt resnonsible for much milk that is not up to- tiie required standard.

The ntilk cans are in some cases another source of contamination, through not being thoroughly washed and scalded. If is a genera"' practice to fill no the cans at the factory with skim milk or whey, as the case may be. While this is a bad practice, it mat be unavoidable in most cases. On re turning to the farm, these cans should be immediately emptied, we’l '-scrubbeo with hot water and soda, ancl rinsed out with boiling water. They should be left standing in the sun. tops up and open, or lying open on their sides, so that any available sunlight may Save full effect. Sunlight- is one of the most powerful enemies of germs, since few wii* live and thrive in bright sunlight, especially when there is also n-enty of fresh air. The well-washed buckets, strainers, etc., should have the same treatment in the sun as the milk cans. Cans that have had whey left in them for some time are exceedingly difficult to clean. Should any of the tinning be off the cans the acid in this way penetrates into the metal, and being persistent in its action, is hard to remove. Warm mi’k placed in wheylogged cans and left overnight is tainted, gassy and over-ripe when delivered to the factory in the morning. Suppliers have probably noticed at different times thick milk adhering to the bottom of the can after tipping out the mi’k. I have found this trouble disappear after n thorough washing anc 1 scalding of the cans. -Cheese manufactured from such milk is not of good keeping quality.

Ke'csene tins and benzine tins should not be used for carrying milk. They were not intended for milk pails, and are not soldered around the inside seam, which makes them a'most impossible to clean thoroughly. The use of a clo.tli as a milk_strainer is often tie cause of faulty milk. If a eleth is used, it shou’d be well washed and boiled every time after use, and then hung out in the fresh air. A proper gauze strainer is preferable to a cloth any time.

A good scrubbing -brush for washing up purposes will stand plenty of hard work, and can afterwards: be placed in the sun to sweeten. Milking .Machines.

Mr Grant then gave a demonstration cn the points of mi'king machines. and tile c*.-x?ntiais necesasry to keep them thoroughly clean. He stressed the urgent need of Keeping the? vacuum system perfectly e'ean, and the use of cold and boiling water to thoroughly cleanse them from all impurities. He also said that no hard brush .shou’d be used on the rubbers, and he showed the effect of the ike if a hard biush; giving impurities a chance of otlgine. Caustic- soda should be used instead. In conclusion he urged Hie most sci noidens cleanliness in every part of the operation of milking to seek re a thoroughly e'ean milk supply. A cordial vote of thanks was accorded Mr (Irani., on the motion of Mr Hnseltine. who complimented Mr Grant on the* excellent address he had given. hi a few concluding remarks. Mr Deem emphasised that the milking Wed at the farm took on’v an hour to thoroughly clean, and he said he could assure everyone that the shed was always kept as celan as it was that da v. Mr Grant briefly acknowledged the compliment, and the afternoon’s proceedings then terminated.