136 BACTERIA, YEASTS, AND MOLDS 



allowed to stand, the putrefaction and decay that set in 

 being sure indications of the presence of bacteria and 

 proofs that the bacteria are decomposing the material. 

 Such waste material is, of course, of no use in the house- 

 hold, since it is not in a condition to attract the palate of 

 man ; but there is a large amount of food material left 

 in these waste products which is very useful for feeding 

 certain animals. It has commonly been used for feeding 

 hens and hogs, and the recognition of its food value has 

 in recent years made the garbage of our large cities a 

 very valuable product. This use of garbage is being 

 abandoned as unhealthful, and the practice of burning the 

 material is becoming common. 



The housewife is not, however, concerned in this prob- 

 lem but only in the proper disposal of the waste material 

 from her kitchen and her table. This she simply desires 

 to get rid of, and its tendency to rapid putrefaction makes 

 it imperative that it be disposed of at once and not allowed 

 to accumulate. She can adopt a variety of methods for 

 this purpose. She may burn it, provided it is not too large 

 in quantity, is not too moist, and she has a fire hot enough 

 for the purpose. As a rule, however, burning garbage 

 in an ordinary kitchen stove is not very feasible. It is 

 commonly too moist to be easily consumed in a moderate 

 fire ; but where possible this is the best means of getting 

 rid of the waste. 



The usual method of disposing of garbage in a city is 

 to allow it to be removed by those who pay for the privi- 

 lege because of the value of the material for feeding hogs. 

 The household waste is placed in receptacles, which are 

 emptied by the garbage collectors. In order that such 



