The rate of destruction of Bacillus subtilis spores by sodium hydroxide solutions in the range of atmospheric temperatures 34—82 °F was studied: (a) to provide information which might be used in practice for immersion cleaning of dairy utensils in sodium hydroxide solutions at low atmospheric temperatures, and (b) to examine the nature of the disinfection curves by slowing down the rate of disinfection. The results expressed as a three-dimensional graph showed that an increase in temperature from 34 to 82 °F had a more marked effect on spore destruction than an increase in concentration of sodium hydroxide from 1·5 to 5·0%. The overall effect could be expressed as

where t = time in hours for the 99% destruction of B. subtilis spores, C = concentration of NaOH (%, w/v) and θ = temperature, °F. Since the time for the 99% destruction of B. subtilis spores by a 2% NaOH solution at 34 °F is 5 times that of a 5% solution, immersion cleaning in cold climates might be assisted by increasing the concentration of NaOH from the normal 2–3 to 5%. Results in disinfection tests at low temperatures were more variable than had been observed in previous work at higher temperatures. These surprising results prevented a careful study of the nature of the disinfection curves and confirmed previous conclusions that such curves are basically sigmoid.

Results are given of the examination for blood of 3214 milk samples from 935 cheese factory supplies. Over 75% of the milks contained less than 2·5 ppm. blood. Excessive blood was due to factors largely controllable by an efficient farmer, and so may be used as an indicator of poor dairy herd management and shed hygiene. No evidence could be obtained that the concentrations of blood likely to be found in commercial milk have any adverse effect on the keeping quality of whole milk or butter.

A complete range of methyl ketones with odd numbers of carbon atoms from C3 to C15 was isolated by steam distillation at atmospheric pressure from fresh butter-oil, cream and Cheddar cheeses of various ages. Evidence was produced to show that the greater part of these methyl ketones was formed during the heat treatment of milk fat. The maximum quantities of methyl ketones obtainable from butter-oil, determined by exhaustive steam distillation at atmospheric pressure, averaged from 14 ppm. for undecan-2-one to 46 ppm. for pentadecan-2-one. Some artifact formation of methyl ketones also occurred, although to much less extent, when dairy products containing milk fat were steam distilled under reduced pressure at 40 °C. Possible mechanisms of formation of the methyl ketones are discussed.

Since it proved possible to extract methyl ketones in low concentration from mature cheese at room temperature, it is evident that milk fat may contain precursors which break down to methyl ketones slowly during cheese ripening, this breakdown being accelerated at higher temperatures. Methyl ketones may therefore play a part in Cheddar flavour, but a previous report from this Institute that the time of first appearance of certain methyl ketones of odd numbers of carbon atoms above C5 in steam distillates, at atmospheric pressure from Cheddar cheese, coincided with the appearance of the typical Cheddar flavour was not confirmed.

The results of 2 experiments indicated that casein whey powder can successfully constitute a relatively high proportion of an all-meal diet for growing pigs. Pigs given a diet consisting of a basal meal allowance per day of ½ lb meat meal and 1½ lb barley meal plus increasing amounts of casein whey powder took significantly less time and required significantly less food to grow from 50 lb to 120—140 lb liveweight, than either the control pigs or those given diets containing smaller basal meal allowances but correspondingly more whey powder. In the best diet whey powder comprised approximately 40% of the total food consumed. In one experiment, diets containing more whey powder than this resulted in slower growth rates, relative to that of the controls, from 110 lb liveweight onwards.

There was a little more scouring on the diets containing the greater amounts of whey powder; but even where whey powder formed approximately 83% of the total food consumed, the incidence of scouring was not of great practical importance. Moreover, there was considerable variation among animals within treatment groups in this respect.

Approximately 30% of the nitrogen of κ-casein was soluble at pH 4·7 after the protein had been treated with rennin at pH 7 while approximately 10% was soluble in 12% trichloroacetic acid (TCA). The material soluble in 12% TCA appeared at a slower rate initially than did the nitrogen soluble at pH 4·7 but as the reaction proceeded it was released more rapidly.

Treating κ-casein with urea, or repeated precipitation of the protein at pH 4·7, caused the formation of material insoluble at pH 7, apparently para-κ-casein. Both treatments appeared to free the same soluble fraction as does rennin acting in low concentration or for a short time.

Low concentrations of rennin (0·07 μg/ml) released only part of the available soluble nitrogen from 2% solutions of whole casein at pH 7. Heating the reaction mixture appeared to restore the casein complex, the restoration being less complete the longer the reaction had proceeded.

It is suggested that κ-casein is not a single protein but a complex, and that the action of rennin is first to open the secondary bonds responsible for the stability of this complex.

The accuracy of methods that utilize the colour-forming reaction between pyridine, acetic anhydride and citric acid for the determination of citric acid in milk and milk sera has been examined. A method based on that of Saffran & Denstedt (1948), in which a trichloroacetic acid (TCA) filtrate is used, gave values 3–5% low for the citric acid content of both milk and milk ultrafiltrate. The method of Merier & Boulet (1958), in which aqueous samples are analysed, gave an accurate value for the citric acid content of milk. The same technique but applied to aqueous-NaOH samples (Marier & Boulet, 1960) gave values about 7% high for the citric acid content of milk and about 3% high for the citric acid content of ultrafiltrate. However, a method using the technique of Marier & Boulet and TCA filtrate gave accurate values for the citric acid content of both milk and milk ultrafiltrate.

From 50 to 140 lb liveweight pigs were given mixtures containing 25 or 50% of either un-neutralized or neutralized lactic casein whey powders in partial replacement of barley meal in a control ration.

Those animals that were given rations containing 25 and 50% un-neutralized whey powder and 25% neutralized whey grew significantly faster and more efficiently up to 110 lb liveweight than the controls and those given the rations containing 50% neutralized whey powder. For the overall trial period, only differences between the last-named group and each of the 3 other groups that received whey powder were statistically significant.

Water intake increased with level of whey powder in the diet and was significantly greater at both levels with the mixtures containing the neutralized powder than with the other diets.

Carcass measurements did not indicate any significant difference in treatment.

Both whey powders were sticky and unpleasant to handle, the neutralized material being worst in this respect.

A series of precipitation zones appears when proteolytic enzymes diffuse through an agar gel containing 1% whole casein and 10–20 mM-calcium chloride. As the enzyme diffuses through the gel the casein stability changes giving first a precipitate which subsequently redissolves followed by a second precipitate which also redissolves. The first or outermost zone of precipitation occurs at the periphery of the area of the diffused enzyme. Using a high enzyme concentration all four zones, two of precipitation and two of subsequent clearing, are visible in about 24 h. The proportion of the total nitrogen which occurs as non-protein nitrogen (N.P.N.) in the first or outermost precipitation zone is similar to that found after the first stage of rennet action on casein solutions.

A study was made of the machine milking rates of a sample of Jersey cows comprising daughter-dam pair groups, obtained from thirteen New Zealand herds during mid-lactation.

Twenty-one per cent of the variation in maximum rate of flow occurred within herds and the remainder between herds. Differences in the type of preparation of cows for milking did not have a significant effect on the average milking rates for herds. The variance in milking time between cows within poorly prepared herds was greater, however, than that in the better prepared herds.

Heritability estimates for maximum rate of flow, derived from the regression of daughters' records on dams' records, were found to be of the order of 80%.

In an earlier paper, one of us (Oosthuizen, 1962) showed that vegetable rennets produce a fall in the viscosity of sodium caseinate solutions which follows the equation of first-order chemical kinetics; but that the proteolysis involved is stronger than that of calf's rennet since the vegetable rennets attack a greater proportion of the casein ensemble.

As determined by gas-liquid chromatography, the mean fatty acid composition (weight percentages of total fatty acids) of milk fat from sows fed a diet to meet U.S. N.R.C. nutrient requirements was: oleic, 35·3; palmitic, 30·3; linoleic, 13·0; palmitoleic, 9·9; stearic, 4·0; myristic, 3·3; linolenic, 2·5; unidentified 0·7 and 0·5, presumably n-odd chain and branched fatty acids; lauric, 0·3; and capric, 0·2. The corresponding fatty acid composition of colostrum fat was: oleic, 41·7; palmitic, 22·5; linoleic, 20·9; palmitoleic, 5·0; stearic, 5·7; myristic, 1·4; linolenic, 2·4; and unidentified acids, 0·3 and 0·1. Dietary fat increased fat levels in the milk and influenced fatty acid composition of the milk fat. Backfat resembled colostrum fat more than milk fat.

A chemical, cytological and bacteriological examination of the milk from each quarter of a cow suffering from subclinical mastitis, but giving 5–6 gal of milk per day, was made at weekly intervals during the first 84 days after parturition. The infection, caused by micrococcal and staphylococcal bacteria, resisted repeated treatments with various antibiotics administered via the teat canals and also intramuscularly, although in vitro the bacteria were susceptible to all the antibiotics used. The cow was slaughtered and a histological examination made of the udder in an attempt to establish the cause of the continuing infection and to assess the extent of tissue damage. Two quarters each contained large abscesses in the upper level of the udder and these could have acted as reservoirs of infection; no cause was established for the other two quarters and it can only be assumed that reinfection occurred from the two abscessed quarters.

The amount of active lesions in the lobules of all the quarters was small, 1–6%, but half or more of all the lobules were involuted, although only a minority appeared to have involuted as a result of infection. In the two abscessed quarters there was extensive damage to the duct system, 23 and 31% showing lesions.

When the milk contained an abnormally large number of cells the chemical composition was also abnormal, containing less lactose (and hence less solids-not-fat) and having a nitrogen distribution in which there was more blood serum albumin and globulin and less casein than usual. Cell content and chemical composition were better indicators of tissue damage than the presence of mastitis organisms. It is estimated that the solids-not-fat content of the milk of the whole udder as a result of the infections was considerably lower than it would otherwise have been (8·0 instead of 8·8%) and that the daily loss in milk yield was about 9 lb.

Results are reported of an experiment made under commercial conditions on the effect of the level of meal fed in conjunction with an unrestricted supply of whey on the performance and carcass quality of pigs.

All the pigs received the same meal mixture and had continuous access to an unrestricted supply of whey. The four treatments were: (1) 3 lb meal per pig per day reduced to 2 lb at 13 weeks of age; (2) 3 lb meal per pig per day throughout; (3) 2½ lb meal per pig per day throughout; and (4) as (1) but the daily allowance of meal increased to 2½ lb/pig at 20 weeks of age. There were five pens of nine group-fed pigs on each treatment, involving a total of 180 pigs. The pigs were on experiment from 8–9 weeks of age to bacon weight. Comprehensive carcass measurements were made on all the pigs.

Mean differences in rate of growth, efficiency of food utilization and carcass quality between the four groups of pigs were small and were not statistically significant. The significant differences in the proportions of meal and of whey consumed by the pigs on the different treatments during the growing period are discussed in relation to relative prices of the two foods. It is concluded that where unrestricted whey feeding is to be used, the feeding system employed in treatment 3 could be recommended in most of the environmental and economic situations likely to be encountered in practice.

The superior performance of the pigs in the experiment compared with that in earlier trials is discussed in relation to the stock improvement work and concurrent improvements in housing and management carried out during the intervening years on the Cow and Gate farm in Dorset where the experiments were conducted.

A strain of Streptococcus lactis, C10, known to be resistant to lactenins, was found to be composed of 47% resistant cells, 10% cells sensitive to lactoperoxidase and 43% cells sensitive to both agglutinins and lactoperoxidase. By subculturing a strain composed of 100% resistant cells in different conditions of medium, temperature and incubation time, it was possible to obtain cultures composed of resistant and sensitive cells in various proportions. These findings help to explain how, after numerous subculturings in autoclaved milk, a resistant strain may become sensitive to the natural inhibitors of milk.

To investigate the effect of replacing part of the concentrates by roots, a 16-week winter-feeding experiment was made using twelve Ayrshire cows. All the cows received 8 lb of hay per day and enough grass silage for a measurable residue to be left at each feed. Two rations were supplemented with 45 lb of fodder-beet per day but the other two contained no roots. At each level of root feeding, concentrates were fed at either 3·50 or 1·75 lb per 10 lb of milk.

All the fodder-beet was eaten (8·4 lb dry matter) and, as this caused a reduction in the intake of silage dry matter of only 3·4 lb per day, there was a net increase in drymatter intake. The level of concentrate feeding had little effect on the intake of the other feeds. Rations which included roots contained significantly less crude fibre than rations without roots.

The mean daily milk yields for the treatments with the low and high concentrate levels were 29·5 and 33·9 lb, respectively, without roots and 31·8 and 35·8 lb with roots. The fat percentages of the milk were similar on all four treatments whereas the solids-not-fat (S.N.F.) increased significantly from 8·42% on the treatment without roots and low concentrates to 8·64% on the treatment with roots and high concentrates. The response per 1 lb of extra S.E. was 1·0 lb milk and 0·02% S.N.F. between the low and high concentrate treatments and 0·7 lb milk and 0·05% S.N.F. between the two root treatments. The analysis of milk from individual quarters of all the cows during each period showed the continuous presence of some subclinical mastitis. It was estimated that this lowered the general level of S.N.F. percentage by 0·2% but did not bias the results from any one feeding treatment. For milk from healthy quarters only, the response to 1 lb extra S.E. from concentrates was 0·03% S.N.F. and from beet it was 0·08% S.N.F.

In an indoor feeding trial with three sets of monozygotic twin cows during late spring the effects of H1 short rotation ryegrass and white clover as feeds for the cows on the characteristics and the carotene and vitamin A contents of the butterfat were compared. The butterfat from the cows fed ryegrass had a lower iodine value and refractive index, higher Reichert and saponification values, and lower carotene and vitamin A contents than the butterfat from the cows fed clover. The carotene and vitamin A contents of the blood of the cows fed ryegrass were also lower than those of the cows fed clover

In a subsequent outdoor feeding trial with four sets of monozygotic twins the feeding of pure H1 short rotation ryegrass or of perennial ryegrass was compared with the feeding of mixed pastures containing a high but varying proportion of clover. The results for the spring and early summer months were similar in direction but smaller in magnitude than those from the indoor feeding trial. In the result for the autumn months there was a reversal of the relationship for the characteristics and the carotene and vitamin A contents of the butterfat and for the carotenoid contents of the blood.

It is suggested that the lack of consistency between the spring and autumn results could have been due to differences in the stage of growth of the ryegrass fed and that butterfat characteristics may be influenced more by the stage of maturity than by the botanical composition of the pasture.

Transduction experiments were carried out using recipient strain Streptococcus lactis C2Ss (streptomycin-sensitive) and virulent phages prepared on donor strain Str. lactis C2Sr (streptomycin-resistant). At a high multiplicity of infection of 10, transduction to streptomycin resistance occurred at a frequency approximately 1 in 30 surviving cells and the recombinant character exhibited a delayed expression. Transduction did not occur when phages propagated on Str. lactis C2Ss were used or when phage antiserum was added to the transducing phage suspension. The transducing phage manifested an altered lytic cycle following passage through the Str. lactis C2Sr donor which rendered it incapable of reinfecting the donor but did not alter its virulence for the Str. lactis C2Ss recipient.

To investigate whether milk of abnormal quality from some quarters of twelve cows on a Latin square type feeding trial would bias the results for chemical composition, the compositions of milk from normal and affected quarters were compared with each other and with that of the milk obtained from the whole udder by normal milking.

The average number of quarters producing abnormal milk in each of the four periods was eighteen, with only small variation between periods. Cell counts ranged from 50000 to 25 × 106/ml with 31% of them below 500000/ml; as cell count increased, lactose percentage and casein number fell. Pathogenic bacteria were detected in only 70% of the abnormal milks. The solids-not-fat (S.N.F.) percentage of milk from affected quarters was lower on average than that from healthy quarters by 0·43, the decrease resulting entirely from a lowered lactose percentage. The total nitrogen content was the same in both types of milk, but there was 4·5% less casein in milks from affected quarters.

Because in this particular experiment the distribution of the abnormal milks was almost uniform over the four feeding treatments, the results obtained for treatment effect on milk composition by the normal milking method were not biased by the occurrence of disease, but the general level of composition was depressed by 0·2% fat and 0·2% S.N.F. In other experiments the incidence of disease might happen by chance to differ between treatments, with the result that the findings about milk composition could be erroneous.

Goat's milk heated at temperatures in the range 94—120 °C underwent the same colour changes as previously found for cow's milk, i.e. whitening followed by browning. The rate of browning varied with temperature according to Arrhenius's Law, and had a Q10 between 95 and 120 °C of 2·6—2·7. This is slightly lower than the value found for cow's milk. It was difficult to produce whitening curves for milk heated at 75—100 °C because of unexplained reflectance variations. It appeared that the amount of whitening which could be produced became less as the interval after milking increased.

In two outdoor feeding trials with monozygotic twin cows during the spring and early summer months the effects of mature and immature H1 short rotation ryegrass on the composition of the butterfat produced and on the carotene and vitamin A contents of the butterfat and the blood were compared. In both trials the characteristics investigated were markedly affected by the stage of maturity of the grass. The butterfat from cows receiving immature ryegrass was more unsaturated and had higher carotene and vitamin A contents than that from cows receiving mature ryegrass. The blood of cows fed immature ryegrass also contained more carotene than the blood of cows fed mature ryegrass.

It is suggested that variation in the stage of maturity of New Zealand dairy pastures throughout the year is an important factor contributing to the seasonal variations in the characteristics and the carotene and vitamin A contents of commercial butterfat. The influence of stage of maturity is probably associated with the quantity and nature of the pasture lipids.