Ttte Question Box. 151 



are fresh in milk, will slum, if the work is well done, to within 

 thirty-five-hundredtlis of one per cent, of fat. The diluted system 

 is the poorest of all skimming devices. It is not as good as the 

 old-fashioned shallow pans. Then, too, the skimmed milk having 

 been diluted sometimes with poor water, is very much impaired, 

 while the butter made from the cream is of poor quality. 



Question. — ■ What causes butter to taste strong after it is two 

 or three days old, utensils perfectly clean, food changed? 



Mr. Smith. — There is something wrong somewhere; either the 

 milker or the butter-maker is not clean. If all the utensils used 

 are clean, the milker is clean and the butter-maker is clean, the 

 butter will not become strong. But very few butter-makers know 

 what it means to say " clean utensils." They should be thoroughly 

 sterilized every day. The simple methods of scalding and rinsing 

 of a pail or milk can will not answ r er. They should be steamed or 

 washed in scalding water to kill the bacteria which get into the 

 seams and other hiding places. In this case something of that 

 sort is making the trouble. The feed of the animal has nothing 

 to do with it 



A Farmer. — Would not poor ensilage cause it ? 



Mr. Smith. — Possibly; but I think not much trouble would 

 come from that source. It has been proved that none of those 

 germs can go through the stomach of the cow and thence 

 into her udder. Usually these germs come either from the stable 

 or from unclean milk utensils. As a rule, a food that imparts 

 some particular flavor to milk will not affect the butter made 

 from it. There is one bacteria, however, which grows below a 

 temperature of 40 degrees which causes milk to become bitter. 

 That flavor will follow and appear in the butter. This bacteria 

 does not grow in a temperature above 40 degrees. Do not keep 

 cream in a temperature below 50 to 55 degrees if you would 

 avoid the appearance of this bacteria. 



Question. — Will sterilized milk become sour if left uncovered 

 in the cellar ? If so, why ? 



Prof. Harding. — The word "sterilized " is a much abused one. 

 Probably "scalded milk" is what is meant. To sterilize milk 

 thoroughly, and thus kill all the germs in it, it will have to be 

 boiled three or four hours; so that milk only scalded does not lose 

 all its bacteria plant life. 



Mr. Smith. — I have heated milk up to 190 degrees and held it 

 there two hours, thinking I had killed all the germs; but Prof. 

 Harding; succeeded in finding live bacteria in it, nevertheless. 



