STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 4T5 



of milk is tben added, and, after thoroughly mixing, the can is set in a 

 place where the temperature can be liept at 75 or 80 degrees P. for twen- 

 ty-four hours. A wooden tank, large enough to hold seven or eight times 

 the amount of water occupied by the starter can, answers the purpose 

 well for keeping this starter at a uniform temperature for a long time. 

 The entire amount of the starter should be sour at the end of this period 

 and apparently of the same flavor as that of the original selected jar. 

 The starter is now ready for use, and an amount equal to seven or eight 

 per cent, of the cream to be ripened is added. By adding one or two 

 quarts daily to fresh pasteurized milk it can be perpetuated to the extent 

 of eight to ten days, depending on the cleanliness and the care taken in 

 pasteurizing the skim milk. 



This method of preparing a starter invariably brings good results. 

 Quite often, however, simpler methods are proposed for preparing start- 

 ers, such as leaving some cream in the vat and running the fresh cream 

 with it, or by adding buttermilk to the cream; but these can not be recom- 

 mended, for tliey too often fail in producing the desired flavor. The in- 

 troduction of pure cultures of bacteria, or the so-called commercial start- 

 ers, selected with special reference to their favorable flavor-producing 

 qualities, have been in use for a number of years, and are the results 

 of the researches of Professor Storch, of Denmark. 



In that country and in Germany several different ferments have been 

 placed upon the market, and their use of late years has so rapidly ex- 

 tended that at present nearly all of the export butter from Denmark is 

 made from cream that is first pasteurized and then ripened with ihe aid 

 of a pure culture starter. 



During the past five years American cultures have been placed on the 

 market. They have also been used quite extensively in many of the 

 dairy sections of this country, although they have not been so universally 

 adopted as in Denmark. 



Our experience for the past few years with these commercial starters 

 has been such that we can scarcely do without them now. We prefer 

 them, not for the reason that we can produce a more desirable flavor than 

 with a home-made starter, but because we think by persistent effort we 

 can induce butter-makers to use them and thereby produce a more uniform 

 flavor, which, after all, seems to be a greater objection with the average 

 American butter than the lack of flavor. This may be a slow process, but 

 in time it will reach out and naturally affect the majority of creameries. 

 Tliis tendency is very appreciable in dairy communities where these start- 

 ers have been introduced. 



A starter must not only be considered as a means for improving the 

 flavor of tainted cream, but ought to be adopted univei'sally as a means 

 for ripening all cream. A good starter lays the foundation for fine and 

 uniformly-flavored butter, and without it a fine flavor can not be ob- 

 tained in pasteurized butter, The reputation of the Danish people for 



