MILK PREPARED AT HOME.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12474, 26 February 1909, Page 4

MILK PREPARED AT HOME.

In the country the mother may be ible to stand the milk bottles in a loo! stream or spring under trees,'.oi' :here may be cool artesian or pump .vater; or on the other hand she ma} lave nothing but -tank -water to depend on. In the latter case, when the. reather is warm, the best plan is tc seep- a pailful or water in the open light air shaded from the rising sun. in this she can cool the milk\ivllicL , ias to:be se;t for cream. The warmer ihe milk is when set in the cool watei Ac quicker the fat will rise. On tin cry ivarmest days, standing foi ; :ream should nol be continued foi nore than six hours, except where ohere is specially cool spring water al ■ land -for keeping down the temperaHire. that cream rises liuch quicker and better in a bqttli jr tall, nai-ow jar than it 'would in a shallow pan or bowl. .'- On no account "set more than the exict quantity of milk recommended because nothing is more liable to gvt .i baby' diarrhoea than receiving toi Tiuch fat. The thin cream' or -tor nilk. should look like- good milk rathsr than ordinary cream (see sheet o: aistructions). ~~ . If there is any doubt about . "tin - Jaby's milk being cool enough on very rarm days, the safest plan is to heat .vhatever is left over before going to bed to 155 degrees 1 for 10 minutes. If there is no thermometer at hand heat to just short of the" boiling point and ieep at that for five minutes. Then cool rapidly n the coolest water avalable, and put in the best place that can be found. ■ : • On very hot, dry days ("nor'.vester weather of Canterbury and Otago), if there is no artesian or other cool water to be had, the best way to keep milk comparatively cool, wheth: er setting for cream or not, is to poujsome water into a soup plate and stand the milk ;jug~ or bottle in this. Over the bottle place two thicknesses of cleajp, open muslin or cheesecloth; which r must. dip into the water., all round. .; This plan is .of no use on moistj warm,muggy days, .because the cooling : effect depends on evaporation which ceases when the' air is saturated with moisture. On this account it is most -applicable in dry inland places, or when the wind is blowing from inland. However, it is ah excellent stand-by "in summer, even on the coast, since the air is rarely quite saturated with moisture in summer, and there will nearly always be- some cooling effected.