8 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Prof. Conn has continued the researches in his laboratory 
upon the bacteriology of milk, cream, and butter, which have 
been described from time to time in the publications of the 
Station, and has, during the past year, given especial attention 
to the bacteria of cream. Parallel with these more purely sci- 
entific studies, have been numerous experiments in creameries 
upon the action of bacteria in the ripening of cream and the 
making of butter. In these the action of the species which 
has come to be popularly known as ‘‘ Bacillus No. 41’’ has 
been tested, and with very successful results. In numerous 
cases where trouble had been caused by undesirable flavors in 
the butter, the difficulty has been removed, and in a still 
larger number the quality of the butter has been improved by 
the use of the bacteria cultures. The cultures have been sup- 
plied to creameries, and arrangements are being made by which 
the Station may be able to distribute them more generally 
through the State. 
It is becoming more and more certain that success in the 
handling of milk and the making of butter and cheese is largely 
a matter of the management of bacteria. These organisms are 
so minute that they can be distinguished only by the most 
powerful microscope; they occur abundantly in air, soil, water, 
and elsewhere; and they multiply so rapidly that millions are 
produced from a single one, and in a remarkably short time. 
They cause manifold changes in animal and vegetable substan- 
ces, to which the terms fermentation, decay, and putrefaction 
are commonly applied. They are of many species and the dif- 
ferent kinds have different effects. They get into the milk as 
soon as it is drawn from the cow, and multiply so rapidly that 
after a few hours a quart may contain as many as there are 
inhabitants in the United States. They cause the milk to sour, 
and sometimes make it ‘‘ropy,’’ or impart offensive flavors to 
it. ‘They are largely responsible for the flavor and other char- 
acters of the different kinds of cheese. They cause the ripening 
of cream, and decide the aroma and flavor of the butter. Some 
make it disagreeable to the taste, others give it the flavors that 
are most sought for and bring the highest market prices. 
In discovering these and kindred facts, the students of bac- 
teriology have made it clear that the successful handling of 
milk and the making of the best butter depend upon the right 
