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Show VI.n BTTK EXTKNS10N SKRVTB ACIlICULTiniE UOMI ECONOMICS By Louis A. Jensen County Agricultural Agent' We all recognize milk as one of the most valuable foods of the human diet. It is necessary for the growing child and very nourishing nour-ishing to the adult, being easily digested and a very economical source of food. But because of its nature, milk provides an excellent ex-cellent place for the growth of bacteria and the collection of dirt and odors. If that glass of milk we drink is to be clean and tasty it must receive the most scrupulous care all the way from the cow to the dinner table.- First of all it must come from healthy cows, free from tuberculosis, tuber-culosis, Bang's disease, Mastitis or any disease affecting her gen-, eral health. The cow should ho housed and' kept thoroughly clean. The , udder and surrounding surround-ing parts ' should be washed carefully before milking. Next the milk handlers should be clean and free from disease. They should use only containers which have been thoroughly cleaned and scalded in hot water and preferably rinsed" with a cholorine solution. As soon as the milk is taken from the cow it should be removed from the milking bam and strained immediately. im-mediately. Pasteurization is best, but of course, not all of us have the necessary equipment for this. However, if is very" essential that it be cooled rapidly to a low temperature, preferably about 40 degrees, and kept cool. For the quality of our milk up to this point we must rely on the person caring for the cows and doing the milking if we produce our own, or the dairy producer and the milk man for those who purchase it. From then on it is up to the housewife and it is after this that much of our milk loses its quality and flavor. Here are a few helpful hints: 1. Keep the milk cool, A temperature tem-perature of 40 to 50 degrees is best. Milk held at different temperatures tem-peratures for 12 hours has been found to increase in bacteria numbers as follows: 40 degrees no increase; 50 degrees bacteria increases 7 times, 60 degrees de-grees 15 times, 70 degrees 700 timx?s. Do not leave the milk bottle out of the refrigerator for an hour or two before replacing. 2. Keep the milk from freezing. freez-ing. Even if it is left on the doorstep door-step for just a few minutes on these cold mornings it will freeze solid. When it is thawed out the fat particles will separate out and the flavor will be affected. af-fected. 3. Keep it out of the sunlight. Oxidization takes place rapidly in the sunlight and results in a poor flavor. If the milk bottle stands on the porch half of tho I day, the sunlight or freezing temperature will leave you a .very poor bottle of milk. 4. Keep the container well covered. Milk takes on the odors of its surroundings very rapidly. Strong smelling foods, medicines, etc. can easily give the milk a very objectionable flavor. 5. Store and serve pnly in clean containers. If these steps pre followed our milk will be more pleasing to the taste and healthful. |