r
treatment is given, a careful cleaning may so reduce the germ
content on the inner surface of utensil as to render contamination
therefrom relatively unimportant. Most of the contamination in a
well cleaned utensil comes from the cracks and angles, which permit
of the collection of the dirt. If these are properly attended to,
thorough cleaning and rinsing alone will accomplish much.

To exert an actual germ-destroying effect on the bacterial content
of the utensil, resort must be had to boiling or steaming. To treat
utensils so as to render them wholly germ-free would be impractical
under ordinary commercial conditions, as it would consume too much
time, although with proper apparatus, this process is not
impossible, but it is well within the limits of practicability in
factory treatment to apply steam for a short period of time. Where
cans, pails and such utensils, are steamed for a minute or so after
being thoroughly cleaned, the germ content is greatly reduced. In a
series of tests by Harrison, the germ content of a set of cans
cleaned in an ordinary way was 442,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter
in 100 cubic centimeters of wash water; in a set washed in tepid
water and then scalded--the best farm practice--it was 54,000 per
cubic centimeter, while in cans carefully washed and then steamed
for 5 minutes, it was reduced to 880 per cubic centimeter. It would
not be worth while to institute measures that would accomplish the
destruction of this small residual content.

The use of steam, therefore, is of great service in eliminating
bacterial life in all utensils. In apparatus of at all complicated
design, it is absolutely necessary. Of course, ordinarily, steam can
be applied only at the factory, as the farm does not usually afford
facilities for its easy generation. This fact has led in some cases
to the adoption of the method of cleaning and sterilizing the cans
at the factory rather than to await their arrival at the farm. This
custom is most frequently followed in milk supply plants.

It is also very important in cleaning dairy utensils to see that
they are rapidly and thoroughly dried after being washed and
steamed. As pointed out above, the short period of steaming that can
be followed in practice does not kill all the bacteria. If moisture
is retained, conditions permit of the growth of the undestroyed
organisms. Tests made on glass milk bottles showed that considerable
growth occurred in the condensation wa