OCR Text |
Show KEEP MILK AND CREAM COLD (Prprit by tha United SUtaa Depart' ment of Agriculture.) ' Each year dairymen lose tuousuncM nr dollars from returned sour milk, poor butter, nnd low-quality cIhvbu. These losses are largely due to Improper Im-proper coolln.? of milk uud cream on tho farm, according to dairy specialists. special-ists. For good results milk and cream should be cooled to 50 degrees or lowor and held there; and us thlt usually can best be done by the use of Ice, dairymen dairy-men should take1 advantage of any n oar-by lake or stream to obtain u supply of Ice for next year. Ice Coats Little. The Ice harvesting season fortunately fortunate-ly comes at a tlmo when there Is the li-iiHt work on the farm for men ami teams, and consequently tho actual money cost Is usually not very grunt. Tho quantity of Ice needed depends upon the location of tho farm whether In the North or In the South, the number num-ber of cows milked, and the method of handling the product. In the northern states It has been fotind thnt, with a moderately good Ice house, one-hnlf of a ton of Ico per cow Is sufilclcnt to cool crenm and hold It at a low temperature temper-ature for delivery two or three times a week. Ono nnd one-half or two tons pqr cow should be provided whero milk Is to be cooled. Capacity of Ice Houses. A cubic foot of Ice weighs ubout 57 pounds, so In storing Ico It Is eustom-nry eustom-nry to allow from -10 to bO cubic feet per ton for the muss of Ice. At least V2 Inches must be left between tho lee and the wall of the building for Insulation, In-sulation, unless the Ice house hns permanently per-manently Insulated walls nnd nn unusually un-usually large space for Insulation be- nenth and nbovo tlie ice. Where a lake, pond, or stream of clear water Is uot available, some preliminary pre-liminary work In preparing the Ice field will be required before freezing weather sets In. It Is therefore advisable advis-able to make nil plans for the work as soon as possible. Water for the lee supply should be entirely free from contamination or pollution. Ponds nnd sluggish streams usually have grass and weeds growing In them, so that the Ice harvested Is likely to contain decayed de-cayed vegotulile mntter, which Is always al-ways objectlonnble. They should, therefore, be thoroughly cleared of such growths before tho Ice has formed. In some hectloiis It Is necessary to impound the wntcr for producing Ice. This may bo done either by excavating, and dlvortlng u strenm Into the excavation, ex-cavation, or by constructing dams across low nrens. In localities whero very low temperatures prevail for several sev-eral weeks ut a time, nnd tho supply ! of pure water Is limited, blocks of Ico may bo frozen In metal enns or In special fiber containers. In harvesting Ico It Ih desirable to have a field of sufficient size to fill the Ice house at a single cutting, as the thtcknes and quulltr of the ico will i ..' |