16 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



calves or pigs, it will be much easier to cool and keep in good con- 

 dition a few pounds of cream than ten times that amount of milk. Then 

 too there will be no danger of losing, an occasional can of milk which 

 has become soured. 



TESTING AND SAMPLING, 



The taking. of a cream sample cannot be done in the same way as 

 with whole milk. The use of composite samples is out of the question 

 and each lot of cream should be tested when it is brought in. Instead 

 of measuring the sample for the test with a pipette, a delicate pair 

 of scales should be used, as the specific gravity of the cream varies 

 according to its density or richness. The test bottle used for cream in 

 large factories has an extra long neck, graduated to 55 per cent, so 

 that cream of any richness can be tested without reducing the size of 

 the sample. These bottles are more accurate than those ordinarily used 

 for milk but they require a special testing machine. 



RIPENING THE CREAM. 



Many are of the opinion that hand separator cream does not require 

 much ripening. If sour cream is brought in, it should be placed in a 

 ripener by itself and given a thorough aeration. This sour cream can 

 never be treated so that it will make a fine grade of butter, but 15 or 20 

 per cent, of a good commercial culture would do it no harm if pre- 

 vented from becoming over ripe, by being kept at a low temperature. 

 Cream containing 20 to 25 degrees of acid can be wonderfully improved 

 by pasteurization, rapid cooling, and the addition of a liberal amount of 

 good commercial starter. The process of pasteurization destroys the 

 bacteria, thus giving the butter a better keeping quality and seems to 

 eliminate many of the bad flavors, but if the cream is very bad it is 

 impossible to get rid of them all. It is always desirable to have only 

 sweet cream and if this is furnished to the hand separator factories they 

 can turn out a finer grade of butter than the average whole milk 

 creamery. When the hand separator factories realize the necessity of 

 being more particular regarding the raw material they use, the whole 

 milk creamery will soon become a thing of the past. 



