IMPURE MILK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 19, 23 June 1913, Page 3

IMPURE MILK.

A BURNING QUESTION. DISEASE AND DIRTY FARMERS. Palmerston N., June 19. An extremely valuable paper was read before the annual conference of the New Zealand Dairy Factory Managers' Association this afternoon by Mr. G. M. Faulkner, of Ngaere, whose subject was "Tlie Improvement of Our Milk Supply." Mr. Faulkner said that there were several agencies responsible for the defects in the condition of a considerable portion of our dairy produce. There were faults in manufacture,land faults in transportation, but the primary cause, in bis opinion, was the need for improvement in the production of the raw material —milk. The insanitary methods adopted in milking, he continued, could bo observed readily by a visit to some dairy farms at milking time. The essentials for the production •of wholesome milk.were (1), healthy cows; (2) suitable fbod, and (3) scrupulous'care and cleanliness in milking, both by hand and ma-, chine. Mr. Faulkner first referred to mammitis, a disease which was very prevalent amongst dairy stock. Many farmers did not realise that when one portion of a herd was affected the milk of the whole herd was affected. None of the milk from such a herd was fit for human consumption, although generally it was only the milk from the affected quarter that was regarded as unfit. The mammitis bacteria abounded in manure, so it was essential for the farmer to keep his cowsheds thoroughly clean. Tuberculosis, continued the lecturer, while not bearing directly on the question of quality in butter and cheese, deserved the earnest attention of the farmer. Often it was closely associated with mammitis. Pasteurisation had done a great deal to remove the danger from tuberculous milk, but in New Zealand, where home separation was so much in vogue, some other means of stamping out the disease should be adopted. The Bangs method used in Denmark, for instance, was a good one. Bangs believed in the isolation of infected stock, and particularly the isolation of calves borne by infected cows. He had shown that such calves were free from tuberculosis at birth, and that they would remain so if they were carefully kept apart from infected stock. The calves 'were fed on milk heated l to 80 degrees centigrade, which was sufficient to kill tubercle bacilli. The disadvantage of Bangs' method was that it required extra labor and great vigilance, and where that method had been tried amongst farmers, many of them were either unable or unwilling to practise it.

Referring to noxious weeds, the lecturer said that some of these played havoc with the purity of the Dominion's milk supply, and it was the duty of every farmer to eradicate the offenders with' care and thoroughness. The feeding of cows on turnips was a practice which should be discouraged, for there was other fodder, such as lucerne, maize and silver beet, which could take the place of turnips, and at the same time increase the milk flow to a marked degree, without imparting any objectionable flavor. Mr. Faulkner went on to speak of cleanliness. He said that no one should forget that when nature instituted milk as a food, she also provided the manner of supplying it in such a way that it should not be exposed. The teat of the mother entered the mouth of the offspring, and the food passed from one to the other without external contamination, The more successfully farmers adopted the methods of, Nature the more likely was milk to be pure. Milking machines were excellent imitations of Nature's methods, but unfortunately a large number of these were handled in a way contrary to all recognised laws of hygiene, the quality of dairy produce suffering in consequence. The cleanliness of the cow was also necessary, and the farmer who milked by hand should be careful of his o-n cleanliness. Mr. Faulkner then made a somewhat novel suggestion, but one which has received considerable support amongst experts present at the show. To ovor»me the difficulties of the farmer in adopting Bangs' metlion. he said it would be fin excellent thing for New Zealand if tlie Government set aside what could be termed "hospital" farms, in charge of competent men, for the rearing of herds free from tuberculosis.