Delicate and perishable small fruits like strawberries and raspberries require extra care in handling, shipping and processing. Berry growers must put their product on the market in good condition, which requires careful handling during picking, storing and subsequent shipping to the market so that the fruits retain freshness and quality. On the other hand, the fruit preservation industries are interested in the quality of their finished product, which is largely dependent upon the quality of the raw berries.

Soil micro-organisms that decompose cellulose have a very important place in the transformation of carbon in nature, since under natural conditions plant residues, which contain relatively large amounts of cellulose, are continually being added to the soil. It is estimated that in forest soils bacterial activities alone account for the liberation of about nine kilograms of carbon dioxide in one hour. Since cellulose constitutes from one-third to one-half of the weight of all plant residues, a considerable quantity of this polysaccharide is being constantly disintegrated by micro-organisms with the eventual liberation of carbon dioxide.

The object or this work was to determine the bacteriostatic and bactericidal efficiencies, under various conditions of temperature, concentration, and addition or organic matter, or NaOH and NaOCl respectively, which are marketed commercially as lye and “Javex”. Comparisons or disinfectant compounds were and still are necessary not only for the advancement or knowledge, but also as part of our society or tree enterprise. Thus, when Microbiology became a science, methods were established for testing these disinfectants with various organisms. At the beginning, such comparisons, as made by Koch and others, were unsuitable because they did not take into consideration factors that might affect the efficiency of the disinfectants.

The period during and subsequent to World War II has witnessed tremendous progress in the field of agricultural chemicals. Many new organic compounds have been developed and are being recommended for the control of weeds, insects and wireworms in the soil, as well as for the control of fungal diseases of plants. The recent widespread use of some of the newly developed, highly chlorinated hydrocarbons as herbicides and soil insecticides has made it desirable to determine what effect they may incur upon the soil microflora, for it is common knowledge that if such chemicals are bactericidal or even inhibitive to any of the important groups of soil microorganisms, then the normal soil processes would be interfered with and inadequate nutrition of crop plants might result.

The first isolation of free living nitrogen-fixing bacteria by Winogradsky and Beijerinck stimulated the attempts to assess the importance of non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the nitrogen economy of the soil. Most non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation investigations have been concerned with agricultural soils because of their economic importance. Very few studies of nitrogen fixation have been done with woodland soils, of a virgin nature, which might contribute more to our knowledge of soil processes than would those under cultivation.

A number of marine bacteria have been found to have a specific requirement for sodium for growth and for metabolism. The specific function of this monovalent ion for the cells, however, is still unknown. The aim of this project is to study the function of sodium in a Gram-negative marine pseudomonad. Three different approaches were taken to investigate this problem. The first one consisted in comparing the biochemical properties of a Na+ requiring marine bacterium and some non-Na+ requiring mutants derived from it.

Ordinary vinegar is dilute acetic acid obtained from the oxidation of alcoholic liquids, and it was probably in this form that it was known from the earliest times. Vinegar was mentioned in three books of the Old Testament and Hippocrates is reported to have prescribed it as a medicine for his patients. Livy, the Latin prose writer, reported in his book No. XXI that Hannibal overcame the difficulty offered to the passage of his army in crossing the rocks or the Alps by dissolving the rocks with vinegar so that a pathway could be made. Thus, vinegar was known for a long time.

Very little appears to be known about many physical and chemical factors that specifically affect the rate of fermentation of apple juice. Indeed, before the work by Clark et al. (1954) at the Bacteriology Department of Macdonald College, it appears that factors other than those tested by Barker (1908) bad not been studied. Barker studied the affect of seration, the temperature of incubation used, the kinds of yeast used, and dissolved nitrogenous matter on the rate of alcohol formation in apple juice. Clark et al. (1954) studied the effect of the age of inoculum, the concentration of yeast extract, and the presence of non-fermenting yeasts on the rate of alcohol production in apple juice.

Most strains or Escherichia coli have simple nutritional requirements. This fact indicates that these organisms are able to synthesize all their requirements tor amino acids, purines, pyrimidines, vitamins and other substances necessary for growth in a mixture or a few inorganic salts and glucose. Davis and Mingioli (8), however, have isolated mutant strains or E. coli that require either methionine or vitamin B12 tor growth.

The “yeast-like fungi” seem to be placed in a taxonomical “no man's land” between the interests of bacteriologists and mycologists. They may be isolated and studied by means of techniques that are essentially more bacteriological than mycological. Yet they appear to have been considered alien to the interests of bacteriologists and of little interest to the mycologists. Since yeast-like fungi are a group of microorganisms of varied morphology (328) it is difficult to present a precise botanical definition of them. Skinner (328) has stated that one is justified in calling an organism “yeast-like” if that organism produces yeast-like daughter cells from mycelium.