The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-08


 milk sweet for the longest possible pe- riod Is a problem that has interested housewives on a small and dairymen on large scale ever since milk became a household necessity. Only within very recent years, however, has there been any visible hope that way yet may be found to postpone souring for an indefinite pe- riod, without even the necessity of cold storage. During these recent years the modern science of bacteriology has dis covered the secret of this inconvenient phenomenon; the dairyman no longer planes the COW for producing a substance that will inevitably curdle but curses goodly number of bacteria that get into the milk afterward and sour 1t by the production of certain chemical changes.
 These bacteria are so numerous that they have not yet been completely inVes- tigated, although the subject has been under careful investigation in many con tinental laboratories and, on this side of the water, much has been already accom- plshed in the laboratories of Wesleyan University, the University of Wisconsin, and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech nology. The bacteriologist and the dairy man really work hand in hand in the im- provement of modern dairy products, for the bacteriologist is gradually finding the scientific why and wherefore of various methods that the dairymen have evolved through centuries of practical experience. But practical experience in the dairy has always given uneven results and the d. of la ri n the gradual elimination of everything except the particular bacteria that are most kindly disposed toward the milk producer. A series of investigations of milk bacteria, for example, Is to be car ried on this summer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that may or may not enable the dairyman to offsett the unfriendly efforts of the little micro- organisms that sour his milk, but will unquestionaby add much to his knowl- edge of these same micro-organsms and therefore considerably advance the dairy business toward this much desired achievement.
 Even with the general knowledge nowa- days of the universal presence of these bacteria. many of them injurious to mankind but a greater number doing their work for his direct or indirect bene- fit, probably few persons outside the ranks of dairymen and bacteriologlsts realize how important they are in the marketing of milk and especially in it's evolution into butter or cheese. There are, indeed, comparatively few bacteria in the milk until 1t reaches the air on It's way from the COW to the milk pan. This little Journey Is long enough to admit a large number of micro-organisms and the milk itself is so excellent place for their growth that they increase with mar vicious rapidity. The dairyman finds In them two-fold character; roughly speak ing they are a curse to the milk seller and a blessing to the makers of cheese and butter If no bacteria got into the milk 1t would probably remain sweet in- definitely, while, on the other hand, ex- cept for some of these same bacteria hu- manity would probably never have ac- auired its taste for bread and butter or it's fondness for cheese sandwiches.
 The relation, therefore. between the bac- astrological laboratory and the modern dairyman has been of increasing inn portance ever since science discovered these wonderful little organisms and be- gan to devise means of separating one kind from another and so studying their individual operations. And in no other industry has this partnership of scientific study and practical experience been of more importance than in the big modern dairies Souring of milk, which had been 
 milk itself has been proved to result from the action of many different kinds of bacteria, all of which convert the milk sugar in a pan of milk into tactic acid. which in turn imparts a sour taste to the milk and eventually makes 1t curdle. It was found that the more bacteria re- moved from the milk by the careful pro- cesses of laboratory experiment the less likely was the milk to curdle. Other bac- teria have been discovered tht spoil the milk in various ways which had always been attributed by the dairyman to cir cumstances beyond their personal con trol And the net result of the discov- cries so far made have been practically to eliminate many of these bacteria by greater carefulness in the conditions un- der which the milk Is produced
 It Is a curious fact that whereas modern bacteriology is constantly busted witS the problem of keeping the bad" bacteria out of the milk that Is intended to All the worlds milk pitchers. it Is equally busy in studying and supplying the good" bacteria that are absolutely nec- tssary to perfect our butter and produce our after.dnner cheeses. Although but ter can be made from cream without bac- terial assistance. cheese would be an im- possibility; and the butter that Is not partly made by their action Is very much like cream in taste and not at all like butter to the average palate.
 Anybody who has had any acquain-