| Whitman H. Jordan, Sc. D., Director. | |
| George W. Churchill, | Harry A. Harding, M.S., |
| Agriculturist and Superintendent of Labor. | Dairy Bacteriologist. |
| William P. Wheeler, | Lore A. Rogers, B.S., |
| First Assistant (Animal Industry). | Assistant Bacteriologist. |
| Fred C. Stewart, M.S., | George A. Smith, |
| Botanist. | Dairy Expert. |
| Lucius L. VanSlyke, Ph.D., | Frank H. Hall, B.S., |
| Chemist. | Editor and Librarian. |
| Christian G. Jenter, Ph.C., | Victor H. Lowe, M.S., |
| William H. Andrews, B.S.,[A] | F. Atwood Sirrine, M.S.,[C] |
| J. Arthur LeClerc, B.S., | Entomologists. |
| Amasa D. Cook, Ph.C.,[B] | Percival J. Parrott, A.M., |
| Frederick D. Fuller, B.S., | Assistant Entomologist. |
| Edwin B. Hart, B.S.,[B] | Spencer A. Beach, M.S., |
| Charles W. Mudge, B.S.,[A] | Horticulturist. |
| Andrew J. Patten, B.S.,[A] | Heinrich Hasselbring, B.S.A., |
| Assistant Chemists. | Assistant Horticulturist. |
| Frank E. Newton, | |
| Jennie Terwilliger, | |
| Clerks and Stenographers. | |
| Adin H. Horton, | |
| Computer. | |
Address all correspondence, not to individual members of the staff, but to the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y.
The Bulletins published by the Station will be sent free to any farmer applying for them.
Popular Edition[D]
OF
Bulletin No. 183.
DAIRY DISAGREEABLES BUSY THE BACTERIOLOGISTS.
F. H. HALL.
Flavor in Milk and Its Products.
Flavor:
How tested?
Good flavor sells milk, cream, butter and cheese; poor flavor condemns them. Flavor is that indescribable something, which, in good dairy products, appeals pleasantly to our senses, but often passes unnoticed because so familiar; in poor products it is equally indescribable, but more often characterized in vigorous language, when “frowzy” butter, “garlicy” milk, “bitter” cream or “strong” cheese present their offensive odors and tastes. The ordinary consumer calls flavor the “taste” of the article which tickles his palate; but the expert knows that the nerves of smell play the larger part, and he depends for his judgment largely upon a trained nose. Hence we see the butter judge or cheese scorer pass the trier beneath his nostrils with deep-drawn breath and meditative study of the aroma which arises. Smells, however, cannot be measured in degrees or separated into their elements by the spectroscope; therefore we have to depend upon general terms, often differing with the different experts, in our discussion of flavor; yet we have some well-marked classes which serve as a basis for reference.
Faults of
flavor
classified.
We can separate the faulty flavors into classes by their origin. The minute particles thrown off by dairy products, whose impact upon tongue or nostrils give rise to taste or smell, may come (1) from compounds in the food of the cow or developed in her body (2) from matters, other than germs, taken up by the milk while it stands in poorly-ventilated stables or rooms reeking with foul smells, or (3) from substances which are the direct or indirect result of the activity of living organisms in the milk.
Odors of the first class will be most noticeable while the milk is warm from the cow and will not increase with time. They are really far less common than dairymen generally believe and may be avoided almost entirely by careful feeding. Garlic, turnips, cabbage and such “fragrant” edibles will, of course, taint the milk if they are fed within a few hours before milking; but when fed soon after the cows are milked, the volatile oils to which these odors are due will generally disappear from the animal’s system before the next morning or evening.