Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-10

uuo W the actlon OF OO1ectlOnable varieties OF
micro organisms which get into the milk. They
are responsible for black cheese. bitter cheese.
cheese fecked with red spots and other such
disagreeablenesses.
The presence of bacteria In cheese could not
be avoided II II were desired. Milk from which
1t Is made always contains them. and some Of
them are certain to be inciosed in the cheese on
manufacture. Thus shut in they find proper
conditions for growth. The conditions are not
very favorable it Is true, for the density Of the
cheese prevents ready access of air which is
necessary to the organisms, and the lack Of
moisture is disadvantage. Nevertheless they
multiply slowly and soon produce profound
chemical changes. They give rise to ferments
and produce other effects Of the nature of COM
mencing decomposition, the total result Of
which is the rich, delicately favored cheese
that brings such high price in the market.
The species Of bacteria which induce the
proper rlpening OF cheeses are as yet unidenti-
fed None of them baveu to the present time
been isolated. But when this has been accom-
plished the making Of cheese will have been
reduced to an exact science, and it may be pos
sible for the American farmer to successfully
reproduce the highly valued cheeses of Europe,
SO that the latter will no longer need to be i'm
ported from abroad. Once let the requisite
ferments be obtained. which can readily be
manufactured in any quantities demanded. and
there should be no further difficulty. Incident
ally, it will no longer be possible for cases to
quired their dangerous properties from the
action of harmful microbes.
FRESH MILK MAY BE Used.
Thus may be predicted a time in the not
distant future when both the butter maker and
the cheesemaker will use fresh milk. The
butter maker will add to his cream artificial
ferment consisting of pure culture of the
proper bacteria, thereupon permitting it to
ripen with the certainty of a satisfactory and
uniform result. In like manner the cheese
maker will inoculate his fresh milk with SINH
lar ferment and thus be enabled to control the
quality of his products. Perhaps he will have
a large variety Of such ferments each of which
will produce for him definite kind of cheese.
The day will yet come when the butter maker
will always make good butter and che cheese
maker viii turn out invariable cheeses.
Among the annovances which aifiict the dairy
men one of the most serious is ''blue milk" 1t
is caused by a species Of bacterium called the
bacillus cyanogenus." Its development pro-
duces patches on the milk of an intense blue
color, which make their appearance few hours
after it is drawn from the COW. Blue milk
seems TO be harmless. but it is apt to produce
an unfavorable impression on the minds of Gus
toners Blue cheese. an occasional phenome-
non, is believed to be due to the action of the
same organism. There are other kinds of
bacteria, which by their growth in milk occa-
sion striking effects in the production of pig
ments, causing the milk 10 turn violet. yellow,
green or red. An unfortunate prejudice exists
in the popular mind against these rainbow hues
In the generous fluid supplied by the cow
WHAT MAKES SHINY MILK.
Another kind of botheration for which GER
tain species of bacteria are responsible is Shiny
milk. Sometimes the siiminess reaches a point
almost beyond belief. it being possible to draw
out the milk so affected into threads ten feet
long and SO small as to be hardly visible. The
common souring of milk is induced by kind
Of bacteriUm which in feeding makes Tactic
acid. This variety, strange to say. though ex-
tremely common around diaries. seems to be
found nowhere else in nature. not even in the
barn. 1t is worth mel tioning here that there
Is no basis in fact for the popular belief that
thunder storms milk to sour. 1t is true
that milk does commonly turn sour during
thunder storms. but that is because the sort of
bacteria that prodIce Tactic acid multiply most
rapidly IN the warm. sultry conditions which
usually precede thunder storm The cleo
tricity has nothing to do with it, Dairymen
find that during dog day" weather. when
there Is no thunder, it is just rs difficult to
keep milk as it is during thunder storms.
Milk in the cows udder contains no bacteria.
They all get into it after it has been drawn
from the animal. some from the hands Of the
person who does the milking, others from the
air, yet from the milk pals. and so forth.
Having once got a start a few individuals
quickly multiply IN SO suitable a couture
medium" into mvriads on myriads. In order
70 avoid such troubles as have been mentioned
the milkmen need only practice the utmost
cleanliness. 1t has been said that one should
make as careful toilet for milking a COW as
for the supper table.
houmyss, beverage prepared from mares
milk from time immemorial by the nomadic
tribes of Tartary. contains alcohol produced
by alcoholic fermentation Of the milk. Within
the last few years this drink has become COM
mon as beverage for invalids, being prepared
for that purpose from cows milk by adding a
little sugar to induce alcoholic fermentation
Within recent years i: has been discovered that
almost any kind Of yeast. which is a fungous
plant. viii produce alcohol from milk If the
process be first started By adding to the milk
Estle cane sugar. 1t has recently been sug-
gested that the use Of whey in the manufacture
OF alcohol on large scale would be profitable