Thirty-sixth Annual Convention 941 



starter. I am tlioronghly convinced that l)ad llavors are trans- 

 mitted frequently to butter through such a niediuiu. 



I visited a very tine creamery about a year ago. The plant was 

 a new one, and the equipment was about complete. The maker 

 was one of the wise, talkative kind. When examining the butter 

 he had on hand, 1 found the quality very poor. I finally asked 

 him to let me taste his starter, which he did. It was over-ripe and 

 in very bad condition. I called his attention to this very forcibly, 

 and he remarked that the starter would come back all risrht bv 

 renewing it, forgetting that he would be making poor butter dur- 

 ing that time. 'Now, this same maker could write columns about 

 batter making, yet he could not produce a uniform grade of 

 butter from day to day, simply because he neglected to attend 

 punctually to the little details. 



A starter is usually in the best condition for use just after it 

 thickens. If a maker is not ready to use it at that time, it should 

 be cooled immediately and held at a low temperature. Under 

 ordinary conditions, the larger the per cent, of good starter used, 

 the better will be the result. I mean by this, anything up to 25 

 per cent. Especially will the large per cent, give better results, 

 if cream is to be churned after pasteurization, without being 

 ripened. When cream is ripened, 10 per cent, will give good 

 results. 



Jn the churning of cream, no set temperature can be given. I 

 prefer to churn in 35 or 40 minutes, when the churn is half or two- 

 thirds full of cream. I would churn in grannies as large as coi-n. 

 There is not much danger of over-churning. If the butter even 

 rolls up a little, it will not do very much harm. After the butter 

 is churned, it is well to let it stand at least 10 minutes before 

 drawing oif the buttermilk. This allows small particles of fat to 

 rise to the surface and mix with the mass of butter. In otlicr 

 words, it gives you a little more exhaustive churning. After the 

 buttermilk has been drawn off, water should be added to equal the 

 amount of buttermilk removed. Under ordinary conditions, it 

 is better to have the water of the same temperature as the butter- 

 milk. This is a case, however, where common sense should be 

 used. If butter is a little soft, the water should be colder, so 



