FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART V. 317 



able to produce as good butter as we did a year ago. We have the same 

 butter-maker, and our creamery is running on practically the same plans." 

 When the use of a good starter was suggested as an improvement of the 

 quality of the butter, he objected very seriously on the ground that in 

 the year 1900 they made some butter to be sent to the Paris Exposition. 

 The first lot was made from cream ripened with a good starter and it was 

 pronounced by a competent judge, to be unfit for exhibition. The second 

 lot was made from cream ripened in a natural way and the butter was 

 good, and won a gold medal at the exposition. A poor starter is worse 

 than none at all. 



It is evident that at times good butter and even the best butter can 

 be made from the cream without the use of a starter. From cream 

 ripened in a natural way from day to day, a uniform, high quality of but- 

 ter can not be expected. The quality of butter depends upon the kind 

 of ferments present in the milk and cream, and the kind of ferments 

 present depend upon conditions, such as treatment of cream prior to the 

 time it arrives at the creamery, degree of cleanliness of utensils and pur- 

 ity of surrounding atmosphere. Such conditions, especially when not 

 under the control of the creamery operator, are sure to vary, and conse- 

 quently the quality of the butter will vary also. 



The different experiment stations that have investigated the use of 

 starters have all reported a decided improvement in the quality of cream 

 and butter by the use of good starters. All modern dairies have intro- 

 duced it as a necessary permanent process in the manufacture of the 

 best butter, and in daily practice the addition of good starters in cream 

 ripening has enabled many makers to excel in competition with contem- 

 poraries. 



In the face of such evidence the use of starters for cream ripening 

 is meeting with considerable opposition, and perhaps progressing more 

 slowly than its importance demands. The question whether the improve- 

 ment in the quality of butter will raise the price of it to such an extent 

 as to repay the creamery owner for the trouble involved in the prepara- 

 tion of starters, evidently depends upon conditions. At creamery plants 

 where good milk for starters can be obtained at a normal price and the 

 butter manufactured sold on its merits, the use of good starters has 

 proven to be very essential. 



The centralization of creameries, and the changing of whole milk 

 plants into hand separator plants, has in some instances introduced un- 

 favorable conditions for the use of starters in cream ripening. In the 

 first place, milk to use for starters is often difficult to secure; secondly 

 the cream is usually already so sour that further acid fermentation is 

 impossible. Some time ago the head butter-maker of one of those central 

 plants was asked if he was using starters. The reply was, "No, I am 

 more in need of a 'stopper' than of a starter." Under such conditions, 

 especially if milk is difficult to obtain, the economy in using starters for 

 cream ripening may be questioned. If the cream has already developed 

 the maximum amount of acidity when it is put into the ripening vat, acid 

 fermentation can not be started anew by the use of a ripe starter, with- 



