DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING AGROTECHNY. 873 



" The man operatinjr the milkers must thoroufihly understand the care and 

 management of dairy stock. Ho should also be persistent in the attention to 

 details in order to obtain the best results. 



" I'"'rom these studies it would appear that the milking machine is fitted for 

 large herds rather than small ones, and we believe it would be impracticable to 

 Install them where fewer than 30 cows are milked the year round." 



Tables give the individual records of the different cows used in the experi- 

 ments. From answers to questions received from 11 of the 13 milking plants 

 in the State it is apparent that the milking machine is meeting with dif- 

 ferent degi'ees of success in the hands of practical dairymen and farmers. 

 The reports are not enough alike to permit of a definite conclusion to fit all 

 conditions, but they show what may be expected of the machine milkers under 

 various conditions and in the hands of different men. 



[The milk bottle question] {Maritime Fanner, JJf (1908), Xo. //, jrp. 70, 

 77). — The advantages and disadvantages of paper milk bottles are discussed. 

 The author thinks that the use of paper bottles would reduce the cost of deliv- 

 ering milk and that there would also be less danger of spreading comnnmicable 

 diseases. 



A note on the bacterial contamination of milk as illustrating- the connec- 

 tion between flies and epidemic diarrhea, J. T. C. Nash (Laneet [Londo»], 

 1908, II, yo. 23, pp. l(J6S, KUUI). — Milk exposed to flies for 5 hours on a warm 

 day coutained about 3,500,000 more of gas-forming bacteria per cubic centimeter 

 than the same quality of milk when kept covered. The chemical changes pro- 

 duced by such largo numbers of putrefactive bacteria " may conceivably be very 

 l)ro.iudic!iil and excite acute diarrhea." 



The bacterial flora of milk, G. Koestler {Kasereiteeh. Rund.^ehdK, 1907, 

 Get.; ahfi. in Milehw. ZenthL, J, (1908), No. 8, pp. 379-381).— For practical pur- 

 poses the author divides milk bacteria according to their ability to decompose 

 lactose, casein, and fat. Those which attack lactose are subdivided according 

 to the decomposition products, namely, acid-forming, gas-forming, and those 

 which form other substances. For cheese makers the fermentation test is 

 stated to be the only practical method for determining whether or not the de- 

 sired kinds of bacteria are present. 



The bacterial flora of Cheddar cheese, H. A. IIardinc; and ]\I. J. Prucha 

 ( .\>/f7 )'ork Ktdfc Stn. Trrli. liiil. 8. pp. 121-193, (Igms. 11). — This bulletin re- 

 views recent studies of the bacterial flora of Cheddar cheese, and reports the 

 results of a quantitative and qualitative study of the flora in 9 normal Cheddar 

 cheeses during the ripening period. 



" More than 3(M) pure cultures were isolated and finally reduced to 33 groups 

 according to the classification of the Society of American Bacteriologists. Ten 

 of these groups disap])oare<l from the cheese at once; representatives of other 

 groui)s were found in but single cheeses, although each grouj) i)ersistod for 

 some time in the cheese where found; the remaining 14 groups are the most 

 important members of the cheese flora. The Baeirriutn Utetis aeidi of Leicli- 

 mann, which includes 4 of these 14 groups, is the only species which was always 

 found and it practically always included over 90 per cent of the total germ 

 content. 



" The initial flora of milk varies widely, depending upon its environment. 

 When this milk is made into cheese the accompanying changes in temperature, 

 moisture, and acidity induce a rapid shift in this flora, . . . and some of the 

 forms which grow best in milk are lost before they can be observed, for they will 

 not grow on any culture media now in use." As the whey is expelled from the 

 coagulated mass it does not contain its volumetric ])roportion of the germs i)re- 

 viously found in the milk. No data are given on the freshly coagulated curd. 



