+238. The action of the bacteria.+--Authorities[112] disagree as to the groups of bacteria found in Cheddar cheese. This may be due to lack of proper classification. Some of the groups are: _Bacterium lactis acidi_, _B. coli communis_, _B. lactis aerogenes_, _B. casei_, Streptococci, _B.[113] Bulgaricum_ and Micrococci. Authorities agree that the _B. lactis acidi_ group is the most prominent. This group makes up 90 per cent or more of the total bacteria flora of the cheese in the early stages of ripening. In the course of a few weeks, however, this group is largely replaced by the _B. casei_ group[114]. TABLE XVI SHOWING THE NUMBER OF BACTERIA TO A GRAM IN CHEDDAR CHEESE AS DETERMINED BY LACTOSE-AGAR PLATE CULTURES ==================================================================== TIME OF | CHEESE NUMBER PLATING +-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- | 580 | 581 | 582 | 583 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- Milk | 8,000,000 | 500,000 | 700,000 | 500,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- Curd at | | | | salting | 160,000,000 | 326,000,000 | 912,000,000 | 839,000,000 time | | | | ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 12 hours | 332,000,000 | 1,048,000,000 | 623,000,000 | 965,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 1 day | 586,000,000 | 736,000,000 | 709,000,000 | 569,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 2 days | 235,000,000 | 405,000,000 | 848,000,000 | 580,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 4 days | 145,000,000 | 684,000,000 | 522,000,000 | 1,025,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 6 days | 165,000,000 | 184,000,000 | 853,000,000 | 184,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 14 days | 51,000,000 | 211,000,000 | 369,000,000 | 401,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 21 days | 284,000,000 | 290,000,000 | 348,000,000 | 319,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 28 days | 285,000,000 | 453,000,000 | 314,000,000 | 144,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 35 days | 104,000,000 | 261,000,000 | 326,000,000 | 504,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 49 days | 132,000,000 | 228,000,000 | 436,000,000 | 661,000,000 ---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 70 days | 128,000,000 | 291,000,000 | 193,000,000 | 168,000,000