The Question Box. 321 



What causes "flat" butter? 



Mr. Van Alstyne. — I suppose that means butter lacking in 

 flavor. 



A Farmer. — Feed the cows some onions. 



Mr. Van Alstjne. — They would add flavor, but not just the 

 right kind. As a rule, foods have much to do with the flavor. 

 Such foods as corn-meal, wheat bran and oats give best flavor. 

 Ensilage also gives a good flavor; but at this time of year the 

 milk from " stripper " cows is the cause of lack of flavor. When 

 the milk of fresh cows is added to stripper milk a good flavor is 

 maintained. That is one reason why Elgin butter has its reputa- 

 tion. In most dairies there, fresh cows are constantly being 

 added, which with the foods they are fed keep up the uniform 

 flavor of Elgin butter, which gives it its reputation. 



Can 5.5 per cent, milk be successfully made into cheese? 



Mr. Cook. — I have never handled any 5.5 per cent, milk, but 

 cheese from richer milk, 6 per cent., has been made with a loss 

 of only thirty-five hundredths of one per cent, of fat. I saw such 

 a cheese recently; but such milk must be carefully handled. It 

 is a mistaken and false notion that such milk cannot be made 

 into cheese. It is also a false notion that milk at this time of 

 year cannot be made profitably into cheese; but it is almost im- 

 possible to make a fancy cheese, one day with another, from every 

 other day milk. It will be impossible with such milk to emulsify 

 the fat so as to get out the moisture and get the caseine to hold 

 the fat. In that case quite a per cent, of fat gets away in the 

 whey. But a cheese made from very rich milk must be cured at 

 a lower temperature than one made from poorer milk, for the 

 reason that the high temperature starts the fat more quickly; one 

 may not discern it with the naked eye, but a small magnifying 

 glass will show it. For myself I can say I never worked milk 

 during fifteen days that tested below 3.35 or above 4.2 per cent. 

 In those instances there was no difference in loss of fat, showing 

 that the caseine followed the fat in like ratio. Much higher, 

 however, we know the caseine will drop a little behind the fat. 

 The market shows that caseine is worth only two cents a pound, 



11 



