498 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



who deliver cream to our factory, and for the past two weeks I have 

 bten testing with our buttermaker to see how he did things and to 

 learn if there were any faults at our end. During my testing I made 

 several notes on which I should very much appreciate your advice. 

 1. We test the samples every day. The wagons get in late, consequently 

 the samples after being warmed to 130-160 degrees are weighed up at 

 once and placed in the refrigerator to remain over night. The following 

 morning these samples are re-warmed and some warm water is added 

 to the bottles before adding the acid. Will this method materially affect 

 the test? 2. We usually add the acid to all of the bottles before mixing 

 the acid and the cream. Would any better results be obtained if the 

 acid and cream were mixed as soon as the acid is added? We usually ob- 

 tain a clear reading and have a smaller proportion of burned samples 

 when the acid is not mixed with the cream until the acid is added to 

 all of the bottles. 3. At times there is a small amount of black at the 

 bottom of the test. Would adding more water to the cream before 

 pouring the acid help to remove this? We have not usually found it so. 

 Our acid would seem too strong and I am trying to get our buttermaker 

 to cut down the amount used. Is this a mistake? 4. We read the 

 samples directly out of the tester. Would it be better to put them in a 

 hot water bath? Would the greater accuracy warrant our securing an 

 equipment? 5. Do you think it good policy to urge the farmers to use 

 hand testers to check up for their own satisfaction, or do you think 

 that the lack of experience in operating the testers would cause a 

 variation in their reading and we would thus have constant disputes with 

 them?" 



The above questions are important from the viewpoint of factory oper- 

 ation and this man has found problems that confront a large number 

 of creamery buttermakers. It is not necessary for me to give the whole 

 text of my reply. Results obtained should be the same whether the tests 

 are completed at once or allowed to stand over night providing care is 

 exercised in removing the cream adhering to the inside of the neck 

 of the bottle. No doubt it is best to re-warm the samples to a tem- 

 perature of 60 the following morning when samples are held but in no 

 case should the hot water be added. It is not a question whether the 

 acid and cream is mixed at once in each bottle as compared with the 

 shaking of the 24 bottles at once. Accurate results are obtained by both 

 methods. The reason why this man had clear tests when the acid was 

 added to all of the bottles before mixing was probably due to the acid 

 being a trifle strong or else the cream re-warmed to too high tempera- 

 ture, consequently when the acid and cream were mixed at once the 

 bottles would stand longer before being whirled, hence a greater action 

 of the acid upon the butter-fat. The problem in this letter and to every 

 operator is that of working out a system that will always give results 

 that are uniform and consistent. There should not be a single factory 

 in Iowa or any other state where cream tests are made where the butter- 

 maker reads the tests directly out of the tester. The hot water bath will 

 always insure the tests being read at a uniform temperature. This is 

 not the case where the tests are read out of the tester. The first bottle 

 is apt to be of a much higher temperature than the last one. 



