March 3, 11)05.] 



SCIENCE. 



329 



by a continuation of the old hit-or-miss, 

 inaccurate methods developed centuries ago 

 before there existed any botanical research. 



It is not necessary to refer here at length 

 to the wide influence research has had upon 

 the dairy industry. Slow as we are to 

 abandon long-established custom, the in- 

 troduction of the pure 'starter' for the 

 production of a standard type of butter is 

 coming more and more into use, and the 

 certainty with which it is now possible to 

 obtain an agreeable and pleasant aroma in 

 butter, with no danger of spoiling the 

 product, is what has made possible the vast 

 creameries of the present day. 



While it is probable that the part played 

 by bacteria is not so important in the ripen- 

 ing of cheese as formerly supposed, the 

 necessity for the lactic bacteria in acidi- 

 fying the milk for the production of a good 

 curd is well recognized. We also know 

 that in some kinds of cheese moulds are 

 essential to produce the characteristic fla- 

 vor so much relished by some. In addi- 

 tion, the supplying of certain bacteria, 

 known as 'langvey' in Holland, plays a 

 most important part in preventing the de- 

 terioration of the cheese, owing probably 

 to these organisms keeping down the 

 growth of objectionable forms by exhaust- 

 ing certain necessary food products. This 

 latest discovery is likely to open up a new 

 field in the dairy industry, as, in a sense, 

 it does away with the necessity of keeping 

 out all deleterious organisms, and permits 

 a good product under conditions which 

 otherwise would make it impossible to 

 manufacture cheese at all. 



The debt owed by the tiller of the soil 

 to the vast number of purely botanical 

 investigations of so much money value to 

 the farmer, is but seldom recognized or 

 acknowledged. To admit oneself a scien- 

 tific farmer is to at once invite a deluge of 

 almanac and comic weekly jokes that have 

 been accumulating against this class since 



Adam began to work for his living. And 

 yet, barring conditions beyond the control 

 of man, the only way in which the most 

 profit can ever be obtained from a farm is 

 by adhering rigidly to the information 

 based on pure science, much of which has 

 been discovered in the botanical laboratory. 

 It is quite true that certain wild specula- 

 tions, masquerading as scientific research, 

 have resulted in unjustly causing many 

 practical men to look upon botanical in- 

 vestigation as being the last thing to prove 

 beneficial to those who grow plants for 

 profit. But the farmer is beginning to 

 distinguish between the real and the false, 

 and it will not be long until it is recognized 

 that the only man who fails to make a suc- 

 cess out of his land is the unscientific one, 

 who either can not or will not take advan- 

 tage of the practical facts put at his com- 

 mand by the investigator in the laboratory, 

 who may not know the difference between 

 a double shovel and a disc harrow. 



It is also interesting to note that our 

 science can no longer be disregarded by the 

 judge and the lawyer as being without their 

 sphere, for it has been possible for the bot- 

 anist to invade the field of expert testimony 

 in a most practical fashion, and the num- 

 ber of cases demanding the knowledge 

 which can only be properly furnished by 

 a student of plants are constantly multi- 

 plying. In one instance, an increase from 

 $9,000 to $25,000 in the damages asked, 

 was due directly to the evidence siibmitted, 

 depending entirely upon plant histology 

 and physiology. And the basis upon which 

 a verdict of $20,000 and costs was finally 

 rendered was the possibility of demon- 

 strating damage by the discussion of such 

 strictly botanical subjects as cross-sections 

 of rose leaves, cambium, photosynthesis, 

 root pressure, etc. That the result would 

 have been different had the attorney for 

 the defendant possessed a little botanical 

 knowledge is perhaps a question, but there 



