HIGH GRADE MILK

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4220, 6 December 1939, Page 3

HIGH GRADE MILK

DEPENDS ON SHED EQUIPMENT. PROVISION OF BOILING WATER ESSENTIAL. Dairymen are being continually urged to improve the quality of milk and cream coming from the dairies, and many competent writers and f speakers have set out their views on the subject. With the increasing vogue of electricity in the sheds, inheaters, it may be advisable to describe some of the points which must be observed in their use if satisfaction is to be obtained. There are a number of difficulties to be overcome when one sets out to calculate the amount of boiling water which must be improved in a dairy. A fuel heater can be filled a number of times to meet the varying demands, but an electric element will deliver only a certain number of heat units in a given time. If the element is too big the water will boil away, and if it is too small it will not be boiling when wanted. It is argued by some that as boding water cannot be drawn through a milking machine it is not necessary to heat it above 185 degrees Fan. Water iwhich is drawn off from a cylinder which is boiling loses a considerable amount of heat before the bucket which receives it is full, and for this reason comparatively large taps must be fitted. If the water in the cylinder is only 185 degrees Fah., it will be considerably lower than that when the bucket is full. Be- / fore the bucket is emptied a further loss of heat takes place, the loss depending largely on the number of bails served by the bucket. y The aim when scalding out a milking machine is to have the water in the bucket at the highest temperature at which the vacuum will draw it through the pipes. a,nd experience has shown that the best milk and c’-eam is received from those dairies where boiling water is available. In addition to the milking plant there are many other fftensils in a dairy which must be Scalded either .by immersion or by pouring the water over them, and only boiling water is satisfactory for this purpose. TWO STANDARDS. There are two standards which must be maintained in the dairy in- * dustry. A utensil is clean when it is , free from visible dirt, and should be as nearly sterile as the ordinary means available can make it. It water is the only means available, it must be boiling, and no reduction from these standards can 'be accepted. Some of the conditions which present difficulties in meeting all rc- . quirements when electricity is used are seasonal and daily variations in

atmosphere temperature, seasonal differences in the size of the herd, difference in interval between milkings, uneven requirements for washing up between night’s and morning’s milkings and difference In the requirements of cream and milk supply dairies. The first two are influences which cannot be provided against. On some farms there is practically no difference in the time between milkings, buit on others there is a very wide difference and the water heating period will vary accordingly. There is not a great deal of difference between the night and morning requirements on a home separation farm, but on a farm which delivers milk, more boiling water is required, and this extra quantity is needed in the morning when a number of large milk cans have to be washed and scalded. , SOME DISCRIMINATION. Under these varying conditions some ’discrimination must be exercised if the best results are to be got from an electric heater. In a home separation dairy with an even period between! the milkings the cylinder can be filled after each milking. If there is a Long night interval and a short day interval the cylinder must be of a size that it can be filled at night. After washing up is finished in the morning there should be some boiling water left in the cylinder. The cylinder should then be filled with a quantity of cold watei', which will boil before the night’s milking and will be sufficient for the night’s washing up. In the milk supply . dairy with an even period between milkings the cylinder provided is sufficient for the quantity required in the morning, but a carry-over of some hot water at night may be necessary to ensure that this quantity is boiling when required. With an irregular period, a full cylinder should boil overnight, while a partly filled cylinder can he heated during the day. It will thus be seen that some thought must be given to these points if the best results are to be obtained from this method of heating, which has the advantage that, if handled properly, the boiling water is available when wanted without effort on the part of the' user. RESPONSIBILITY. Under the Dairy Regulations the responsibility for the installation of a heater is shared conjointly by the purchaser and the person erecting it. There is no restriction on the installation of a heater with suitable ele- ; ment which exceeds the scheduled sizes. Hot water from a factory which is taken home in the milk cans is quite inadequate for cleaning a milking machine. The right time to do this work is immediately the milking is finished and before the milk dries, and by the time the water from the factory reaches the farm it is no-

longer hot and is therfore useless fqr the final scalding of the plant. The Dairy 'Regulations require a suitable plant for the boiling of sufficient water near the machine. This stipulation rules cut water from the? factory or from the house, which may be some distance from the shed. MILKING PROCEDURE. We have now reached the point where something should be said about the actual milking procedure. Reference has already been made to the advantage of hosing down the yard before the cowS are brought in. Some yards recently built have an approach; race in which a foot 'bath is constructed in the concrete and through which all the cows must pass. The water in this bath should be replenished daily. Warm, or at least cold water, should be drawn through the milking plant before milking is started. , Boiling water is even better.

The appearance of the dairy will generally give an indication of the class of milk produced in it—the condition of the leg-ropes and stools for instance. It should not be necessary to mention the necessity for washing the teats and udders with clean water in which a pinch of Condys crystals has been dissolved, using a clean cloth pr, better* still, a hose and sponge pad. The teats should then be dried. It may not be out of place to repeat that the Act requires that no milk which is tainted or which, nas been drawn from a cow which is diseased or has calved within four days shall not be sold or sent to a factory.

After milking is finished the washing of the. plant and utensils should be undertaken at once, as it is easier to make a thorough job at that stage than later in the day. This will not be a difficult task if the milking plant has been correctly installed and the necessary conveniences provided. The original claims for the releaser plant, that all that was required was to draw a few buckets of warm water through were quite wrong. The later theory that a more or les perfunctory cleaning after each milking, with complete dismantling of the machine once a week was equally wrong. Bulletin No. 118, procurable post free from the Department of Agriculture, describes the present-day system. If followed, thjis will keep the milking plant clean all the time with a minimum of labour.

It may as well to state the things which should not be done. Do not put hot water or steam through the machine before it is washed, this will cook the milk on and cause a deposit of milk-stone. Do not tfse hard brushes or scrapers in the milk tubes; they will destroy the smooth inner surface. Do not use a caustic soda solution which is stronger than one teaspoonful to four gallons of water. Do not neglect to wash the air system as well as the milk system.