BACTERIOLOGY OF SILAGE 



449 



far collected are very similar in so far as the cultural observations 

 have been made. The colonies on agar appear exactly like those 

 of the B. lactis-acidi group and, in the presence of a ferment- 

 able carbohydrate, they are surrounded by the characteristic 

 haze. The development of colonies is not so rapid as with 

 organisms of the B. lactis-acidi type, but on prolonged incubation 

 they usually develop to a greater size. The readiness with which 

 this group of bacteria grows on ordinary laboratory media differ- 

 entiates it quite sharply from the typical B. bulgaricus of milk. 

 Not only do these organisms cause a high acid fermentation 

 in milk but they have a similar action in corn juice in which 

 they grow very rapidly. In the table given below are the data 



TABLE I 

 Acidity produced by silage organisms in milk and in corn juice 



obtained with fourteen cultures grown in milk and in corn juice. 

 The corn juice used was obtained from green plants at about 

 the tasselling stage. The juice was expressed from the stalks 

 by pressure, heated for a few minutes in the autoclave, filtered 

 through filter paper, tubed and sterilized. The cultures were 

 incubated twelve days at 37°C. 



