120 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 

Fic. 43—Plate showing numbers of bacteria in .2 cc. of brine which had 
been used three days for soaking the rubber parts of the milking machines 
SIXTH TREATMENT OF THE MACHINES. 
The next change in the treatment of the machines was to 
immerse the tubes and teat cups in a borax solution made by 
dissolving one pound of powdered borax in fifteen quarts of 
water after the machines were washed as before. The tubes 
were placed in this solution and allowed to remain until needed 
for the next milking. 
Tests made by rinsing the tubes with sterile water showed 
a germ content varying from a few hundred up to several 
thousand bacteria per cubic centimeter of this rinsing water, 
showing that this borax solution did not thoroughly sterilize 
the tubes. Photographs of two of the plate cultures made from 
the water with which the inside of the tubes were rinsed are 
shown in Fig. 44. 
