640 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



Because they go on with their appointed work when and where we 

 do not want them to, we think of them as only enemies. Bacteria do sour 

 our milk, taint our meat, rot our potatoes and apples, while molds spoil 

 our bread, our cheese, soften the cucumbers waiting to be pickled, and 

 possibly spoil the best tablecloth laid in the dark, warm drawer ; but we 

 owe to bacteria our vinegar, our June-flavored butter, and the " retted " 

 flax from which the tablecloth was made. 



TJic molds: larger forms of plant grozvth 



There are other invisible plants besides the bacteria and yeasts in the 

 air. These are the molds, and they will get into the dough, also. If the 

 bread be baked long and thoroughly, all these plants are killed, but if 

 not, some will be left alive in the middle of a thick loaf and they may 

 sour or mold the bread even then. 



The writer once cut a new loaf of Graham bread bought from the 

 baker and found a large spot of mold when she reached the center slice. 

 She felt sure that the bakery or the dishes and meal were not clean. She 

 knew that it was not sufficiently baked. The mold spores are so tiny 

 and light that the air almost always has some of them in it. 



No wonder the bread or cake left some time uncovered on the table 

 becomes moldy when it is finally put into a dark box or jar! It will not 

 mold if it is perfectly clean and dry; so that if we want to keep bread 

 for crumbs, we dry it thoroughly in the oven or on the back of the stove. 

 But while here it should be covered with at least one thickness of cloth to 

 keep ofif the dust. 



Molds will find moisture enough almost anywhere to help them start 

 into growth. They and the wild yeasts are in numbers on the skins of 

 fruit. If we put the apples, lemons, oranges, etc., in warm places, the 

 mold plants will grow and soften the skins so that they are easily broken. 

 Then the bacteria or more molds can reach the inside pulp and the fruit 

 decays or rots. 



The grapes on a bunch touch each other, so there is less air and more 

 moisture between them in such places. Here the mold plants start first, 

 and from one such place enough spores will be made to spoil a whole 

 basketful of fruit in a short time. Lemons and oranges, as well as other 

 fruits, may be kept for weeks, even in dogdays, if each is wrapped in 

 paper and put in a cool place. 



Apples or any other fruit may be preserved much longer if they do 

 not touch each other. This is possible with small quantities. With 

 large quantities in a mass there must be greater care to keep them from 

 " sweating." They need to be kept as cold as possible and yet kept from 

 freezing. 



