Stable should be constructed to assure proper ventilation and to provide proper shelter for the animals. The floors should be of material that is non-absorbent, well drained, and easily cleaned. Concrete is best. Each cow should have a separate stall furnished with a stanchion. The walls should be of material that can be cleaned. There should be 600 cubic feet space for each cow in the barn.
Bottling
Milk should be strained through gauze placed over the wire strainer. All the utensils should be thoroughly cleaned after each milking and, if possible, sterilized in a steam sterilizer. The straining should not be done in the barns where the cows are, but in special separate milk houses. The bottling should be done only in establishments specially fitted for such purpose.
Proper Temperature
Milk should be kept at a temperature not above 50° F. during transportation. The cans or bottles should be properly covered, sealed, and the milk protected from too much agitation.
Because milk undergoes a very rapid change, beginning almost as soon as it is drawn from the cow, it is necessary to either consume it in a short time or provide some means of preserving it. Milk soon deteriorates, becomes sour and unfit for use as food.
The best means of preserving milk is to keep it at a low temperature. Bacteria are not destroyed in low temperature, but the activity is inhibited and their development retarded. In this way milk is kept from souring and from undergoing fermentative changes. The digestibility and character of milk are not changed by cold, and it will be sweet for a day or even longer if kept at a temperature under 50° F.
An entirely sterile milk may be furnished only by raising the temperature to 248° F. for at least two hours, but this destroys the milk ferments. There are certain changes produced by boiling milk which renders it less desirable for food, making it less digestible. It is, therefore, especially undesirable for infants.