324 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



derful process. Think of a separator bowl making from six thousand 

 to ten thousand revolutions per minute. Here we see sweet milk put in 

 the machine and skim milk and cream immediately separated. !Most any 

 separator will skim clean to a certain limit if the machine is run perfectly 

 smooth and at the proper speed. A little vibration of the machine causes 

 a remixing of the cream and no separator will skim thoroughly clean 

 that vibrates. This is where some makers in large creameries lose possi- 

 bly more than their wages. The next thing is cream-ripening, which is 

 possibly the most important step in the whole process, as this is a factor 

 that largely controls the flavor, and flavor is the quality that distinguishes 

 butter from lard, tallow or any other fat. Flavor does not come by 

 chance. Take the National six-month contest just ended and we find 

 that John SoUie of Xew Sweden, Minn., got an average score of 98.12. 

 This was not brought about by chance nor entirely by the good milk 

 furnished by the patrons. This maker informed me that he carried as 

 many as seven or eight starters during this contest. Here we find him 

 selecting the kind of bacteria that produces the best flavor. A starter 

 of any kind is only adding enormous quantity of a species of bacteria 

 that we expect to predominate in the final product. This takes skill 

 and hard work on the part of the maker. Starters of any kind are quite 

 difficult to carry forward, as every detail must be attended to punc- 

 tually. The maker must also have smell and taste well cultivated so 

 that he will be able to detect the slightest change or off-flavor. He must 

 also have some knowledge of the principles of bacteriology. A few 

 years ago, it was largely chance-work for a maker to win two high 

 scores in succession. Now we find makers who use pure cultures and 

 have a knowledge of the scientific principles of cream ripening, scoring 

 high in most every contest. It is asked, does all this care and trouble 

 pay? I would say "Yes." as the value of the butter may be enhanced 

 as much as two cents per pound. The churning and working of butter 

 is another important. factor which does not receive the attention it should 

 from the creamery men of the country. We have a law limiting the per 

 cent, of water in butter to sixteen per cent, yet we find the chemical anal- 

 ysis of butter in the six-month contest is something less than twelve per 

 cent. The maker who is able to incorporate between fifteen and sixteen 

 per cent, of water in his butter will increase his yield nearly four pounds 

 to the hundred. Take an ordmary make of 500 pounds per day and we 

 will have a difference of twenty pounds. Twenty pounds at twenty cents 

 per pound will give us $4.00, quite an item on a man's wages. Here is 

 where skill comes in. 



The dry butter or that containing a low per cent, of water does not 

 sell any higher than the medium and in some cases not as high. I tested 



