448 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



milk is drawn it should be removed from the stable to the dairy 

 house aud ruu through the separator. No dairyman would attempt 

 to make good butter in our day without the use of the centrifugal 

 separator; tirst, because it at once reduces the bulk by about 87 

 per cent., relieving us fi:om handling and caring for all that bulk, 

 and second, the separator is a cleanser. It removes from the cream 

 <[uite an amount of albuminous matter, and with it many impurities 

 and numberless bacteria. We have learned that the fewer bacteria 

 of any kind we have in the cream to start with the more easily can 

 we make a number one butter. 



As soon as the cream is separated it should be cooled down to 

 no degrees, still better 40 degrees, and held at that temperature 

 imtil we are ready to ripen it preparatory to churning. The lower 

 the temperature at which we can hold the cream, the better it will 

 remain. At 40 degrees or below, bacteria develop very slow, if at 

 all, and the cream will keep perfectly for the few days we desire to 

 hold it, and cream should not be held more than three or four days 

 at most. If our methods were correct and cleanly up to this jioint. 

 •I good part of the battle is won . 



RIPENING OF THE CREAM. 



We now wish to ripen the cream, or, in other words, we want to 

 develop the pioper flavor for our butter. It is true we can make 

 butter from sweet cream, and only a few years ago sweet cream 

 butter was a fad, but very few people liked it, and now very little is 

 made. The philosophy of cream ripening is fairly well understood, 

 thanks to the work of our bacteriologists during the last few years. 



If our cream is in a good condition and contains a minimum of 

 bacteria;, especially the kind conveyed by dirt or filth of various 

 kinds, it is almost sure to develop a good flavor when warmed up to 

 about G8 or 70 degrees, and held at that temperature for some hours, 

 but if we would make a perfectly uniform product, and fastidious 

 customers want every pound just like every other pound, it is best 

 to use a starter. 



In this way we introduce just at the right time a large number of 

 strong, active, correct flavor-producing bacteria, and they will 

 put in their work before the other kinds, that have apparently been 

 chilled and rendered dormant to a certain extent, have time to 

 develop and do any harm. It is true that many species of bacteria 

 have no effect on the flavor of our butter, but there are others that 

 will develop "bitter," "tainted," "insipid," "putrid," and other very 

 undesirable flavors^, if present in abundance, and as a rule all these 

 are introduced by unclean methods and unclean utensils. In the 

 private dairy where everything is under the immediate and per- 

 sonal control of the proprietor, and all operations can be overseen 



