The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-11-04

the world would be clogged with the dead
bodies of plants and animals, which
have lived and died in past ages. The
farmer makes his cider and vinegar by
the aid of bacteria. In the retting of
fax previous to the manufacture OF linen,
we deal with bacteria. In the manufac-
ture of Indigo bacteria come in to play
In the great wine, beer, whiskey and
alcohol industries the lamentations are
brought about by bacteria, or yeasts,
which are also treated under the same
head of bacteriology.
But let us come down to the practical
part bacteria play in relation to agri-
culture. In the butter and cheese in
dustry this relation is perhaps, the most
evident. First of all, the souring of milk
is caused by many species of bacteria,
which consume the milk, sugar and form
Tactic acid. The souring of milk may be
prevented by keeping out the bacteria.
When milk is secreted in the bladder of
the COW, it is sterile and contains no
bacteria, but many germs work up
through the openings in the teats, and so
when the milk is drawn it contains a
small number of bacteria. The keeping
qualities of milk may be increased very
materially by the following methods.
First, see that the milk pail has a smooth
bottom and sides with no seams or
cracks. The pail should not only be
absolutely clean. but it should be well
sterilzeu by contact with live steam or
hot sunshine. All strainers and other
utensils should also be thoroughly steril-
lied or heated. The COW should be clean
h nd no
slightly moistened with water just be-
fore milking. The clothes and person of
the mixer should be clean, and he should
have a white duck suit of overalls to
slip on over his other clothes. The
practice of moistening the hand with
milk while milking is very bad, and
should not be allowed. The barn should
be kept scrupulously clean and milking
should always be done before feeding.
or if this is impracticable the feed should
be moistened. The object in barn man
agement should be to have as small an
amount of dust in the air as possible,
therefore dry food should never be
handled Or thrown from the loft during
milking time. Milk secured in this way
will keep from four to five days in
sweet condition. If a great deal of pains
are taken milk will keen sweet a month
or two. During the Worlds Fair at
Chicago a can of milk was sent from
Uruguay South America, which arrived
n Chicago in a sweet condition. Others
we're successfully sent from this country
70 the Paris Exposition.
Now the way many up-to-date butter
makers overcome this difficulty is they
heat the milk to temperature of 155
and keep it there for fifteen minutes. and
then quickly chill it down to a low tenn
perature again. This kills practically
all the bacteria, good ones and bad ones
together. and yet does not give the milk
a cooked flavor. Next, having procured
from the market a pure growth of the
desired bacteria, they plant them in the
milk and then put it away at the right
temperature to ripen or sour. This is
called adding starter, and is exactly
the same kind of thing the farmer does
when he plows up his fields and kills all
the weeds, together with what few vol
unteer crop plants have come up, and
then seeds the whole field down solid to
wheat corn or some other crop.
We next come to the bacterial diseases
of animals and plants. Among plant dis
eases of bacterial origin, one of the best
known is the re-blight of apple and
pear trees. This can be cured by sumply
cutting out the blighted portions, foot
Or so below the diseased part. AS a pre-
cautionary measure, the knife used
should be dipped in carbolic acid after
each limb is cut. This will preclude the
possibility of spreading the disease by
carrying bacteria from the tree on the
blade of the knife. In recent years there
has been great deal of talking and
writing about the tuberculosis in cattle.
When a COW breathes these bacteria into
her lungs, especially if she has a cold.
they are apt to find Judgment and en-
couraged by the presence of good, warmth
and moisture they set up an active
growth. Soon they increase to billions
and form a hard core or tubercle in the
lung tissue. This tubercle continues to
grow in size until the whole lung be-
comes one solid mass of a hard cheesy
nature. This qualification deprives the
animal of the use of the lung. In some
cases the bacteria spreads over the body
injecting the liver and other glands. AS
long as the udder is not affected the
milk is safe for use, but if the bacteria
get into the udder. the milk is sure to be
infected by them. 1t is still an open
question as to whether man may con-