The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-08-16
W. VA. AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION.
Something About Its Expert
mental Work.

4 mental work.
What the Papers are Saying Of It-A
Hint at the Important Work now un.
der Way-It Goes along so Quietly
That Comparatively Few Know what
is Being Done Members OF Its STAFF
in Demand from Ocean to Ocean
Recognized by the Department al
! Washington as One Of the Most Use
full Stations in the Country.
The Agricultural Experiment Sta
tions were established for the purpose
Of carrying out original Investigations
along agricultural lines. 1t has fire.
quently been urged that many OF the
stations are deyoting no small part of
their time to elaborate compilations OF
work already done to the detriment of
the research work for which hey
were established. This criticism,
however, will hardly apply to the
West Virginia Station, for, as those OF
US who are in touch with its work
well know, the energies of this insti-
tuition are devoted almost exclusively
| to original Investigations of the
| highest class, and the best OF it is,
these Investigations are yielding re-
suits. Many of these results might be
published now, but for the very COM
mendable conservatism that has char
acterized the present management of
the station. 1t is thought best TO
continue to duplicate some of this
work until the evidence is simply ov-
erwhelming, and who for example
without such evidence would be likely
| to believe that as result of a ten
minutes operation pig would In three
weeks weigh more than twice as much
as any of his brothers and sisters, al
though all had received the same
treatment in all other respects, or
that milk, without being heated or
cooled, or without adding anything
to it or taking any thing from it,
could be kept sweet long enough to
ship it to Denver, and yet these things
have been done repeatedly. In regard
to the work on milk we may speak
more freely, as preliminary report of
this investigation has just been pub
lished. 1t has to do with the
the preservation of milk by an entirely
new process. In view of the adapta-
bility of the milk industry to this
state, the magnitude of the industry
10 any state or community and the
enormous losses that are continually
being incurred on account OF the per-
ishable nature of milk, it must be adj
mitted that any investigation worthy
| of the name that has for its
object reduction of these losses de-
deserves to be encouraged, and when
such an investigation leads TO such re-
suits as those mentioned it is well
worthy of the very hearty endorse
ment it has received even at the
hands of the most conservative agri-
cultural and dairy papers of the land.
The opening paragraphs of this re-
port are as follows:
'sThe souring of milk being due to
the action of bacteria, methods for
preserving milk must either destroy
the germs or interfere with their
work. Barring antisepsics, which are
always Objectionable, the methods in
general use are reduced to three: ster-
ilization, cooling and pasteurization.
The first named method attempts to
kill all the germs by heating the milk
to about the temperature of boiling
water and keeping it at that tempcra-
ture generally for about about half an
hour each day for three or four success.
sive days, or by heating it TO some
what higher temperature for one long
er period. Sterilized milk should keeI
indefinitely, but it has cooked odol
and taste. The second method makes
no attempt to kill the germs; it sim
ply prevents their rapid multiplied
tion and SO interferes with their &C
tion. 1t has one great advantage il
that it does not effect injuriously The
odor, taste, etc. OF milk. Pasteuriza
tion, which is sort of compromise OF
combination Of the other two method.
and consists 10 heating the milk from
10 to 30 minutes at temperature o.
40 degrees to 1870 degrees, f., ant
then quickly cooling it, greatly re
duces the total germ content Of mill
and seems to be particularly effectivt
in destroying the disease germs so of
ten present. This method has many
advantages, but as it does not kill al
the germs the milk must be kept at {
low temperature, or it will sour in {
short time.
But one of these methods attempt!
to completely steTilize the milk and i
has bad effect on the odor and tast,
of the milk. 1t will be observed tha
these methods in general use, are al
simply matters of temperature and i
would seem that in the problem o
preserving milk the effect of tempera
! ture has been pretty well worked out
and that it might be worth while t.
study the effect of some other agent.
/ The new agent studied was pressure
Samples of milk sealed up in tin can!
were first subjected to a pressure q
several hundred pounds to the squar,
inch, but such pressures had no per
ceptible effect, and somewhat highe
pressures were tried with same result
AS there was no suitable method O
apparatus for subjecting liquids lik,
milk to still higher pressures, it wa
necessary to devise one and this wa
no easy task. Such method, howev
er, was perfected step by step, the
pressures obtainsble increasing grad
ually until they reached the enormous
pressure of 100000 pounds to tn,
square inch. In this connection it i
interesting to note that this pressure
is more than five times as great as tn,
service pressure used in modern guns
and twice as great as the highest pres
sures to which any gun in the U. S
Navy or army is ever subjected, evel
In "the test to destruction" and thi
test is only applied to one gun ezra
Jorgeusen rifle) of many thousand
manufactured. After few application
of these high pressures the steel cylin
ders in which the milk was place.
would often split like pop guns an,
the solid steel pistons crush like glass
One would hardly believe that an
living thing could survive such con
ditions, and yet some of the germ
did survive, for the milk would gen
orally sour in time, although it often ~
ndined s,oeet for too or three sueeks.
That such pressures would not com
pletely sterilize the milk was, O
course, disappointment to those II
charge Of the work, but ''beng ia n
way responsible for the truly remark
able vitality with which nature hd'
seen fit to endow these tiny things
doubtless for good and sufficient rca
sons, and being determined to And
solution to the problem the effect OF
icontins,ous law prpssira was thel