Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1899-08-11
". VA. AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION.
Something About Its Expert
mental Work.

What the Papers are Saying of it-A
Hint Mt the Important Work now un-
der Way-It Goes along SO Quietly
That Comparatively Few Know what
is Beng D0ne-Members of It's staff
in Demand from Ocean to Ocean
Recognized by the Department at
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.
1quently been urged that many of the
stations ale 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 ia 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 a result Of 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
The in"cetti g. tian 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
! in any state OF 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 rec uctiOn 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:
"The 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 antsepsics, 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 tempera-
ture generally for about about half an
hour each day for three or four success
sive days, or by heating it TO a some
what higher temperature for one long
er period. Sterilized milk should keep
indefinitely. but it has cooked odor
and taste. The second method makes
no attempt to kill the germs; it sim
ply prevents their rapid multiplica-
/ ton and so interferes With their ac-
ton. 1t has one great advantage 10
that it does not effect injuriously the
odOr, taste, etc, OF milk. Pasteuriza-
ton, which is sort Of compromise or
combination of the other two methods
and consists in heating the milk from
10 to 30 minutes at temperature of
40 degrees to $50 degrees, F., and
then quickly cooling it, greatly re-
duces the total germ content of milk
and seams 70 be particularly effective
in destroying the disease germs so Of
/ ten present. This method has many
advantages, but as it does not kill all
the germs the milk must be kept at a
low temperature, or it will sour in a
short time.
But one of these methods attempts
to completely sterilize the milk and it
has bad effect on the odor and taste
of the milk. 1t will be observed that
these methods in general use, are all