314 Bulletin 146. 



worms. The Station has clearly demonstrated, Bulletin No. 101, that 

 these pests can be controlled by thorough work with a poison spray, 

 and yet their ravages go on unchecked in many localities. We had 

 supposed that most, if not all, of the damage was being done l)y the 

 spring canker-worm, but in November last we received definite infor- 

 mation from one locality that at least three other similar insects were 

 then ascending the trees and laying their eggs One of these insects 

 is new to us and we have not yet learned its name. We have obtained 

 good pictures of nearly all of the forms, and have arranged to go inic 

 the field and make a critical study of all of the four kinds of canker- 

 worms which are apparently responsible for the destruction being 

 wrought in western New York orchards. 



Past experience shows that it is impossible to predict what insect 

 pest will require attention during the coming year. Whether the 

 tent-caterpillars, plant-lice, the pear psyllas, or any of the other 

 insects which were so numerous in 1897 will again be as destructive 

 in 1898 or not, we do not care to hazard a guess. 



Dairy Bacteriology (F. A. Moore, Chief). 



BY A. R. WARD. 



It has been demonstrated that many of the difficulties encountered 

 by our dairymen in obtaining desirable butter and cheese are attribu- 

 table to bacterial agencies. The varieties of their troubles are numer- 

 ous and their effect is often disastrous to the prosperity of the 

 creameries and cheese factories where they occur. What are the 

 causes of the bad butter and poor cheese, and how can these causes be 

 removed, are questions which are constantly being asked and which 

 cannot, in most cases at least, be answered satisfactorily until the 

 fundamental principles underlying their causes are carefully worked 

 out and formulated. 



During the past summer, by the aid furnished by the New York 

 State Veterinary College, we have started work on certain of these 

 highly practical problems. The results are not yet ready for publi- 

 cation, but when the work is completed it will throw much light 

 upon the relation existing between the bacteria of the immediate 

 surroundings of the cows and of those in the flora of the milk ducts 

 themselves and the gassy curds, bad flavors and taints of the milk 



