DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING. 89 



total and soluble nitrogen at different periods during ripening are 

 tabulated. The results are ]>riefl3^ discussed and the following con- 

 clusions are drawn: 



"This seric'r^ of experiments leads us to eonsider that tlie digestion of casein in cot- 

 tage cheese is due, not so much to the action of vital ferments, in and on the curd 

 masses as has hitherto been supposed, but to the effect of inherent milk enzyms, of 

 which galactase is undoubtedly the most important. They also indicate that the 

 lactic-acid group of bai;teria have no appreciable effect on digestion. 



"Furthermore, it is shown in these instances that the casein of milk, when pre- 

 cipitated l)y acid instead of rennet, undergoes a proteolytic or digestive change, in a 

 manner comparable to that which occurs in normal milk." 



Effect of digesting bacteria on cheese solids of milk, H. L. 



Kussp^LL and V. IL Bassett ( ir/.s-roz/.v/y/ Sfx. Ilpf. 1S90. 2n>- 1S7- 

 193). — Experiments were conducted to determine if losses occurring 

 in the manufacture of cheese from tainted milks are due to the diges- 

 tion of the casein of the milk by bacteria. Samples of raAv and sterile 

 milk inoculated with pure cultures of various species of digesting and 

 gas-producing bacteria were incubated for 14 to 24 hours at temper- 

 atures ranging from 82 to 99° F. Determinations of the soluble nitro- 

 gen and the total solids of the milk and whey at the beginning and 

 end of the experiments are tabulated. The results are considered as 

 showing that the casein of the milk suffers no appreciable loss through 

 tiie action of digesting bacteria during the tirst 24 hours after milking. 



"It is therefore fair to assume that the losses sustained are attributable, in the 

 main, if not wholly, to the manufacturing methods that are used in the handling of 

 such tainted milks. This being the case, it is possible that improvements may be 

 made in these methods whereby some, at least, of these losses may be prevented, a 

 condition which would not in any way be possiljle if the insoluble casein was dis- 

 solved by these digesting organisms during the period before the milk is ordinarily 

 made into cheese. 



"It is more than likely that the digesting microbes attack the albumen in milk 

 first, and so have in this already soluble material sufficient food to sustain them for 

 a considerable period. Later, the insoluble casein molecule is rendered soluT^le 

 through the continued activity of this type of ferment action." 



Notes upon dairying in California and the export of California 

 butter to the Orient, K. A. Pearson {U. S. Dept. A(/r., BuTeau of 

 Animal Lidx-sti'ij Bnl. '21^.^ pp. 29, jyh. Jt-./fig. 1). — A brief account is 

 giyen of the dairy exhibit at the California State fair, held at Sacra- 

 mento September 4-16, 1899. Scores on the butter exhibited are 

 tabulated. A resume is giyen of the principal points brought out in 

 a general discussion on the export of dairy products from the Pacific 

 coast at a meeting of the California State Dairymen's Association, 

 held at Sacramento during the fair. Among the phases of the subject 

 discussed were causes affecting hardness of butter, making and pack- 

 ing butter for warm climates, and the use of preseryatives. Some 

 purposes of the experimental exports of butter to foreign markets by 

 the Department are noted, and statistics are given of the exports of 



