DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 331 



There is another phase of butter-making- of which I wish to speak. 

 ;That is the matter of reducing everything to a perfect system. Wc 

 have generally ripened our cream until it tasted right, cooled it to about 

 a certain degree, churned it next morning, sometimes at 50, sometimes 

 at 60, consuming anywhere from ten minutes to three or four hours, 

 have sometimes added ten per cent, starter, sometimes thirty per cent, 

 and at other times none at all. We have churned a twenty per cent, cream, 

 and a forty per cent, just as it happened to be. We have sometimes 

 ripened at sixty, sometimes at seventy or higher, sometimes we have 

 worked the churning fifteen revolutions, sometimes twenty-five, in a 

 room sometimes at forty, sometimes at ninety degrees, sometimes com- 

 pelled to rush the work through and at others had abundance of time, 

 never Icnowing the amount of butter fat in the vat, and never knowing 

 what our over-run was. Were I going to give you any advice at all be- 

 fore sitting down, I would say, "Don't do it. Have a system, work to 

 it." The market demands uniformity in quantity almost as strenuously 

 as it does high quality itself. 



In one of the great creameries of the country this miscellaneous as- 

 sortment of variations is not allowed. They work on absolute system. 

 The result is a far greater degree of uniformity than was obtainable be- 

 fore introducing almost rigid rules of this kind. 



It may be objected that in small creameries this cannot be done. 

 My answer is that a larger part of it can be done. If the creamery is 

 supplied with the Babcock tester, an alkali test and a good thermometer 

 there is no excuse for the butter-maker not knowing the amount of 

 butter fat. and bringing his cream to a standard both for fat and acidity. 

 He can establish a churning temperature then very easily, that will 

 bring the butter to granules in from 30 to 35 minutes. With an even 

 percentage of cream, and ripening, and a uniform churning temperature, 

 he can easily determine the amount of working necessary to give just 

 the right grain. With all of these things known and followed from 

 day to day the result will be very uniform. 



The over-run. the most important part, considered financially, should 

 be known every day. A thorough system and a properly ruled sheet of 

 paper for filling in data will enable the butter-maker to know this. 



I am going to give one word of advice, if you will allow me to 

 break my former statement. If there is a butter-maker here who feels 

 that he hasn't enough grasp of the subject to enable him to carry out 

 the ideas suggested, get a move on you and attend the Missouri Dairy 

 School this winter. Prof. Eckles is abundantly able to help you out. 



