The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-04
BAcILLI IN BUTTER
NUMBER OF MINNESOTA CREAM
ERIEs ARE USING BACTERIA
FOR BUTTER FLAVORS.
STATE DAIRY COMMISSION
NEEDS A BACTERIOLOGIST TO
LOOK AFTER THE BUTTER
THUS PRODUCED.
Commissioners Anderson Is Prepar-
ing Some Urgent Recommenda-
lions for the Legislature.

son is hard at work upon his annual
report. One of the most important
matters with which the dairy and food
commission Is now confronted, and one
with which it is least qualified to cope,
is the subject of cultured butter"
which is the trade name for that butter
which is favored by means of bacteria.
The culture of bacteria for butter flaw
ors is not new to science, but the trade
has not given the situation wide public
tty by reason of the popular distrust
that would attach ito the use of the
term bacilli. 1t is claimed that the use
of the proper baciHi is not unhealthful,
although there are bacteria which
might creep into carelessly made butter
preparations which would be deleteri-
Gus. Expert butter judges, it is said,
are able to tell at a glance the "cul-
tured' butter, to their own satisfaction,
at least, but it is doubtful if they could
conf1scate butter containing improper
cultures by the mere judgment of the
eyes or nose. 1t is this that empha-
sizes the need for a state bacteriologist,
as large number of creameries in this
state are now using butter cultures, and
while the reports of the dairy and food
commission in the past have taken up
the subject of bacilli, no action has ever
been taken by the legislature. The
matter will be brought forcibIy to the
attention of the coming legislature.
The master of the subject Of baciIIf
In butter is probably Henry w. Conn.
professor of biology at Wesleyan uni
versity, Middletown, Conn. During the
worlds fair he secured possession of a
can Of milk which had been shipped to
the exposition, and as it had been dam
aged for exhibition purposes, he pur-
sued his Investigations with it. 1t
was during these researches that he
discovered the bacillus known to him
an No. Al. which he has since made of
great value to himself, as well as of
accommodation to creamery men. for
the fiavoring Of butter Much of the
pacll1 cultures in use in the Minnesota
creameries is prepared by Prof Conn
from the Hneal descendants of the bac-
terra he adopted at the worlds fair.
ana winch he has since been propagat-
ing IN his laboratory at Middletown.
II is insisted that with proper culture
the products thereof are not unheaIth-
Tul. In fact, Dr. Conn claims that the
MAYORS and aromas of butter, cheese.
smoking tobacco, snuff, vinegar and
some other food products are due large
~, and In many cases wholly, to the
presence of bacteria therein. The rim
enlng OF the cream in butter making.
ne says, is but the effect of bacterial
growth, the first step in the process of
decay. When cream is left in a warm
place open to the air. the rnfcro-organ-
asms therein multiply rapidly, he having
detected SEQ, 000 0o6 in a. cubic cent?
meter, which is considerably less than
haIf-inch cube. He estimates the
generative possibilities of single
bacillus at 100000 in twenty-for1r.
hours. The bacilli grow and break in
Two, 50 II is merely a question of ge-
ometrica1 progression.
Mr.. Conn has detected 1873 varieties
In Connecticut dairy products distin-
guishable under the microscope by
color, habit, and other peculiarities.
With the practical question as to
whether a number Of these affect milk
In the same general way, Prof. Conn is
still experimenting.
In his germ culture he collects small
quantities of milk in chemically clean
glass tubes, in which all the life IS des-
trcped by the insertion of a red hot
Pa platinum needle. A test tube of Pas
teufIzed cream-creanl which has been
heated to 100 degrees-has poured into
1t some of the culture. A little butter
is then made with the simple mech
anism of druggists milk shaker In
a recent publication, Prof Conn says:
There are two methods of using the
bacterial growths practically. The
first is for the dairyman to Pasteurize
his milk and then introduce little Gull
.ture of an approved sort, as l do here
The next is to take the milk or cream
in it's ordinary state and put in SO
many of the bacteria of species so Wig
orCus and rapidly reproductive that
q they will override the resident germs
and dominate the character of the
whole.
THE objection to the first method is
that it makes the farmer considerable
trouble to heat his milk or cream to 155
degrees and then cool it again before
applying the culture. Another diff
Guilty is that it is easier to produce the
right flavors than the right aroma by
germ culture. The combination neces-
sary to produce both will, however, be
perfected. The objection to the second
method is its uncertainty We don't
know what's in the cream in the begin
ming; when the new bacteria are added,
they may be powerful enough to con-
troll those already present and they
may not. Gradually American dairy
men will learn the use of bacterial
methods as the dairymen abroad are
doing. Already there are six different
brands OF ripenlng bacteria for sale in
Europe and two or three in this co,ln-
try. More would be sold here were 1t
not for the fact that the ingenious Con-
necticut farmer has devised a fairly
good substitute, which is to get a little
cream from the very best dairy avail
able, let 1t sour, and mix it with his
fresh cream, somewhat improving the
character of the fermentation and CIV
Ing the young cream a start in the
right direction. This process is anal
ogous to the use Of the so-called
Low
device for Fastening and improving the
fermentation.
"In Europe, particularly in the north
erR countries where dairying is the
main agricultural interest, much use
has been made of dairy culture. Den
mark is especially advanced.
las to cheese, the investigation IS
, not so we'll advanced. The ordinary
ripening of cheese takes weeks, or
years, instead Of days, because it Is
so dense that bacteria which prefer q
liquid home, cannot spread so rapidly.
OF course, it is known that bad or
tainted cheese is due to the activity
of the undesirable growti1s, but the
practical results of the attempt TO
supplant them by better ones have
been thus far slight.
There are many other processes In
the industries which might be has
tened or improved by meteorological
IlSliOu --Iile making OF peer, or VINE
gar; the aging of liquors which now
takes years where 1t might be COM
pleted in days; the preparation of fax.
OF hemp. linen, cocoanut mats sauer-
kraut; the bleaching of sponge and
the maceratfon of skeletons. In all
these and hundreds of other opera
lions fermentation takes place, and
In most of them culture methods can
be profftabIy used. Vinegar of the
most delicate. flavor is produced by
r.1,ltn1.fad faaf.tai.ia 4 The hreWerS have