EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 137 



Through Prof. Hedrick, then State Nursery Inspector, Mr. Alex Ham- 

 ilton, of Bangor, Mich., offered to allow experiments to be conducted at 

 his nursery and to help us if it were in his power. Mr. Hamilton has been 

 very accommodating in giving the use of his land, time and labor, and 

 also trees. 



There were during the year about 700 trees in the experiments of vari- 

 ous kinds. Some of the trees were planted November 4, 1897, and the re- 

 ma iader April 20, 1898. This fall we pulled some of the experimental 

 trees and found results which, although not well defined, offered suffi- 

 cient encouragement to act as a stimulus, where we scarcely expected to 

 find anything. The remainder of the trees will not be pulled till a year 

 from this fall. Prof. Wheeler advises extending the experiment further 

 if Mr. Hamilton will consent, and pursuing it even to the bitter end, if 

 it takes several years. This is really the only way we can arrive at any 

 conclusion. We hope that next fall, when the remainder of the planted 

 trees are pulled, the results will help us another step on the way. I agree 

 with Prof. Wheeler, whose judgment in the study of plant diseases I 

 accept in preference to any conclusions I may hastily form from insuffi- 

 cient data regarding plant life. 



GASSY CHEESE. 



Last winter, during the cheese course, there occurred an off fermen- 

 tation which made the curd gassy and sponge-like. Some of the curd 

 was taken and the germ causing the trouble isolated. During the year 

 this germ has been studied, and once used as a starter in cheese mak- 

 ing. If; produces spongy cheese. Owing to the fact that no cheese is 

 made at the College, except during the cheese course, the extended 

 study of its action in the manufacture of cheese has been postponed till 

 December, at which time, in conjunction with Mr. True, I hope to as- 

 certain its economical bearing. This is the most common trouble cheese 

 makers have to contend with. 



SUSPECTED HOG CHOLERA. 



Last June an epidemic broke out among the younger pigs on the 

 College farm, and was pronounced hog cholera by the veterinarians. 

 Every symptom indicated that it was hog cholera or a disease closely 

 allied to it. Upon the post-mortem of several of these pigs, there were 

 lacking some of the lesions which are usually found in hog cholera. At 

 the request of the director of the Station, an attempt was made to find 

 the germ of hog cholera. Usually this germ is found without much 

 difficulty. However, in these cases, culture after culture was made from 

 the various organs of thirteen or fourteen of the animals that died or 

 were killed for the purpose, but no trace of the hog cholera germ could 

 be found. All the cultures which were made remained sterile with the 

 exception of a fraction of one per cent, which showed the presence of 

 saproyhtic germs, due to the incipient stage of putrefaction. Having 

 studied bacteriologically the animals sick on the College farm, and not 

 having found a trace of the hog cholera germ, it was thought expedient 

 to extend the study to epidemics among hogs about the State and within 



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