18 Direcror’s REPORT OF THE 
DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY, 
Rusty spot in cheddar cheese.—- The fact that this trouble is 
due to the presence of a specific bacterium was pointed out in 
Bulletin No. 188. In connection with the Dairy Department the 
Department of Bacteriology has worked out and tested a plan 
of expesing all the factory utensils to live steam for 20 minutes 
on each of three days per week. Where this plan has been care- 
fully followed the trouble has been held below the limit where it 
would cause financial loss. In some factories the germs causing 
the trouble continue to be brought by the patrons after the factory 
is put in a satisfactory condition. This phase of the subject is 
now under consideration. 
Cheese curing.—Work in connection with the Chemical and 
Dairy Departments on the causes of cheese ripening continues to 
occupy much time. During the year a definite advance has been 
made in measuring the different factors concerned in the break- 
ing down of the casein. The important part taken by acid-form- 
ing bacteria in the process of manufacture and in certain later 
changes as well as the action of the pepsin of the rennet in the 
decomposition of the casein have been worked out in detail. 
Gas formation in canned peas.— The commercial canning of 
fruit and vegetables is an industry important to the agriculture 
of this State, but thus far its problems have received little atten- 
tion. During the year assistance has been rendered in extrica- 
ting a factory from serious trouble with gas formation in canned 
peas, and the results of our work upon this subject will soon 
appear as a bulletin. 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. 
Potato spraying experiments.-—Very few farmers in New York 
spray potatoes regularly. Because blight and rot are not de 
structive every season, many persons doubt that it pays to spray 
regularly. In order to obtain some definite information on this 
point the Station has undertaken some experiments designed to 
determine how much the yield of potatoes in New York may be 
increased, on the average, by spraying. A second object of the 
experiments is to compare the benefit from three sprayings with 
that from spraying every two weeks. 
