Bacteria / Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health

by Sir George Newman

Finally, we may quote five conclusions from the prolonged researches of Mr. Lloyd[70] which cannot but prove helpful to the Cheddar cheese industry in England:

1. To make Cheddar cheese of excellent quality, the Bacillus acidi lactici alone is necessary; other germs will tend to make the work more rather than less difficult. Hence scrupulous cleanliness should be a primary consideration of the cheese-maker.

2. No matter what system of manufacture be adopted, two things are necessary. One is that the whey be separated from the curd, so that when the curd is ground it shall contain not less than 40 per cent. of water, and not more than 43 per cent.; the other point is that the whey left in the curd shall contain, developed in it before the curd is put in the press, at least 1 per cent. of lactic acid if the cheese is required for sale within four months, and not less than 8 per cent. of lactic acid if the cheese is to be kept ripening for a longer period.

3. The quality of the cheeses will vary with the quality of the milk from which they have been made, and proportionately to the amount of fat present in that milk.

4. "Spongy curd" is produced by at least five organisms, and one of these is responsible for a disagreeable taint found in curd. They occur in water. Hence the desirability of securing clean water for all manipulative purposes, and also for the drinking purposes of the milch cow.

5. The fact that certain bacteria are found in certain localities and dairies is due more to local conditions than to climatic causes.

It is needless to remark that these conclusions once more emphasise the fact that strict and continual cleanliness is the one desideratum for bacteriologically good dairying. That being secured in the cow at the milking, in the transit, and at the dairy, it is a comparatively simple step, by means of pasteurisation and the use of good pure cultures of flavouring bacteria, to the successful application of bacteriology to dairy produce.

Methods of Examination of Milk:

1. Preparation of Microscopic Slides. This course might at once occur to the mind as the first to adopt in searching for bacteria in milk. Devices have accordingly been proposed for saponification previous to staining. Some recommend the addition of a few drops of a solution of sodium carbonate; others use methylene blue and chloroform. But, whatever plan of staining is adopted, this method of examination in its simplest form is in no degree a criterion of the bacterial content of a large quantity of milk.