68 VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S REPORT. 



like size is very economical. A goat has been found to do re- 

 markably well. Electricity will be used before long. 



CREAM RIPENING. 



Cream from deep cold setting is cold and sweet when taken 

 off. If it is kept in a room where the temperature is about 6o° F. 

 for twenty-four to thirty-six hours it will begin to sour. Each 

 skimming when put in the cream can should be well mixed with 

 what was in before. No fresh cream should be put in ihe can 

 for twelve to sixteen hours before churning, for if this is done 

 the fresh cream will not be ripened and the butter will not all 

 churn out. 



Cream from the separator is warm when it is separted right 

 after milking and has the " animal heat " still in it. It must 

 be aerated and cooled immediately. When the cream is run 

 itito " shot-gun " cans the aeration and partial cooling may be 

 done by pouring several times in a small stream from one can 

 to another. A better way is to have a cream cooler made some- 

 thing like a large colander, placed high above the cream can. 

 The bottom of this cooler has a great number of very small 

 holes through which the cream runs in very tiny streams into 

 the cream can, and in that way is thoroughly aired and partially 

 cooled. Setting in cold water will complete the cooling. 



The way just described is practiced by a great many with 

 excellent results ; but there is a better way if one has the facil- 

 ities for doing it. Keep the cream by setting in small cans in 

 cold water, or otherwise, at a temperature of 50 F. till twelve 

 hours before the time of churning. Then mix it all together in 

 a vat or can and warm it up to 6o° F. Then put in a starter 

 and keep it nearly if not quite up to 6o° F. for twelve hours, and 

 when it is afterwards cooled to the right temperature it will be 

 ready for churning. The starter may be some good skim-milk 

 which has been kept at a temperature of 6o° F. until it is sour 

 and thick, or it may be some cream already ripened, or some 

 buttermilk from the last churning. Use of the starter an amount 

 equal to about 2 per cent in bulk of the cream ; in other words, 

 one quart of the starter to twelve gallons of the cream. Another 

 form of home-made " starter " which has been highly recom- 

 mended is made as follows : Take fresh milk, secured in a 

 perfectly clean way, from a healthy, well-fed, fresh milch cow. 

 Set this milk in ice-water and expose only to pure air for twelve 

 hours, or pass it through a separator, and keep the skim-milk 

 at a temperature of 6o° F. long enough to lopper. Do not dis- 

 turb the coagulum until ready for use. Then skim off the top, 

 stir it carefully, and strain through a fine mesh into the cream, 

 in the proportion already stated. 



