I5ALTKKIA IN MILK. 2O3 



land it is pretty certain that it is a micrococcus (Micrococcns 

 freudenreickii\ which is the common cause of the trouble. 

 This bacterium is commonly found, it grows rapidly, pro- 

 ducing a sliminess in five hours, and is regarded as the agent 

 in producing the common dairy infection. Possibly other 

 species may be concerned elsewhere. The slimy milk used 

 in making Edam cheese is produced by a Streptococcus while 

 a different species still, growing on the Pingnicula leaves, is 

 said to be the cause of the artificially produced slimy milk of 

 Norway. But whatever be the particular variety which pro- 

 duces the trouble, it is certain that in all cases the bacterium is 

 an unusual one. It does not belong to the dairy and is not 

 common around barns. Except under peculiar conditions, 

 therefore, the slimy milk bacteria are not likely to get into 

 milk and, when they do get into the dairy, the trouble may 

 quickly be checked if the dairyman will only find the partic- 

 ular source of trouble in his dairy and apply some disin- 

 fecting agents at the right place. Cleaning of water tanks 

 and milk vessels will be the most efficient remedy in the ma- 

 jority of cases. Slimy milk is a preventable infection and its 

 remedy is simply cleanliness with, perhaps, disinfection. 



Bitter Milk. Next to slimy milk, perhaps bitter milk offers 

 the most trouble to the dairyman. The appearance of a bitter 

 taste is not uncommon and its cause may be manifold. There 

 are two quite different sources of bitter milk to be distinguished. 

 The first is something that affects the cow and causes her to 

 produce milk with a bitter taste. Improper feeding may do 

 this. Sometimes a cow feeds upon herbs, such as lupines, 

 which impart a bitter taste to her milk. Bitter milk is also 

 quite common in a late stage of lactation. In all these cases 

 bacteria play no part. This type of bitter milk may be recog- 

 nized by the fact that the milk is bitter as soon as it is drawn 

 from the cow, and the bitterness does not increase later. 



But in other cases the bitterness is a matter of slow develop- 



