14 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



depends upon the skill with which the butter maker is able to control 

 the work of the bacteria. 



I shall now proceed to explain how I handle a commercial starter 

 and, as far as I am able, explain my theories for the different manipula- 

 tions. As soon as I have received the pure culture from the laboratory 

 I set to work to prepare my starter, or, if unable to do so immediately, 

 I put it in the ice box in order to preserve it. In preparing my first 

 batch of starter I use a half-gallon or gallon crock, the inside of which 

 must be perfect and without cracks. In this crock, which I have found 

 holds the temperature remarkably well, I put three pounds of carefully 

 pasteurized milk of good quality and at a temperature of 80 degree, a^d 

 to this I add half an ounce of culture. 



In pulling the cork of the bottle I am careful to have everything germ 

 free, and steam the cork-screw as well as the mouth of the bottle. 

 I stir the mixture with a sterile spoon, cover the crock with sterilized 

 parchment paper and set it away at a temperature of 80 degrees in 

 the summer and at 85 degrees in the winter. In the course of eighteen 

 or twenty hours it has soured sufficiently to become loppered. This first 

 batch of starter generaly has an offensive flavor, but as the development 

 proceeds through the following inoculations the flavor improves. With 

 my three pounds of starter I inoculate two batches of pasteurized milk. 

 The first batch consists of four pounds in a sterile half-gallon crock 

 and to this I add about one-fourth pound of starter and set it away as 

 on the first day, but at a temperature of 70 degrees in summer and 75 

 degrees in winter. This I call my mother starter. With the two and 

 three-fourths pounds which I have left I inoculate 80 pounds of pasteur- 

 ized milk at the above temperature in a ten-gallon can and place the can 

 in water at a slightly higher temperature in order to keep the tempera- 

 ture of the milk as near 70 degrees as possible. The milk treated in this 

 way will be ready to use in about 18 hours, so if the starter is set at two 

 p. m. it will be ready for use at eight the next morning. I have my 

 mother starter ripe at two p. m. ready to use for inoculation for my next 

 day's starter. I always set my starter at the same temperature and the 

 reason for this is my belief that the lactic acid germs do best at the 

 temperature they are accustomed to. Likewise, I never cool my starter 

 down if it gets ripe a little too early but instead of cooling it down add 

 to it a little recently pasteurized skim milk and if this is lacking I use 

 the best morning's milk I can get. 



Bacteria growing under conditions most suitable for their rapid in- 

 crease are more vigorous than at any other temperature and grow so 

 rapidly that they smother or retard the growth of other varieties that 

 may be in the milk. If you use the same temperature every day you 

 know pretty near when the starter is going to be right, and can 

 arrange your work so you will have time to give the starter proper 

 attention. As it gets older, I use less for inoculation and always try to 

 have it ready for use at the same 'hour every day. I don't let my starter 

 get more than two or three weeks old before I prepare a new one as I 

 find they lose their strength at that age, and I take extreme care not 

 to let it get over ripe. About seven per cent, is the right acidity. 



In making a home-made starter I proceed in this way: I go to a near- 

 by farm and ask the farmer's permission to milk one of his cows and 

 I always get permission. Before milking the cow I wipe the udder and 



