558 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



be imparted to the milk, butter or cheese, unless the milk or cream has 

 been pasteurized, when these volatil products pass off. The effect of differ- 

 nt kinds of ferments is not as easily removed, not even by pasteurization. 

 This is the principal reason why we get much different flavor in the win- 

 ter than in the summer months, as the cows are usually milked in the 

 stable and the germs that get into the milk are mostly of the putrefactive 

 groups — those which cause ordinary decay. We found from investigation 

 at our school that about seventy-five per cent of the bacteria in milk were 

 of the undesirable kind during the winter months, while in the best periods 

 of the summer months we found as high as ninety per cent of the desir- 

 able kind. The thorough brushing and dampening of the udders before 

 milking and the removal of the milk from the stable as soon as drawn 

 would greatly diminish these effects. In our best cream, we found from 

 ninety-two to ninety-eight per cent of the bacteria present to be of the acid 

 producing species. A maker can more readily control the flavor by the use 

 of a starter. An example of this kind was shown at the national contest. 

 We find that one maker got an average score of 98.12. This was not 

 brought about by chance nor entirely by the good milk furnished by the 

 patrons. This maker informed me that he carried twelve or fifteen starters 

 during the entire contest. Here we find him selecting the kind of bacteria 

 that produces the best flavor. A starter of any kind is only adding enor- 

 mous quantity of a species of bacteria that we expect to predominate in 

 the final product. This takes skill and hard work on the part of the maker. 

 Starters of any kind are quite difficult to carry forward as every detail must 

 be attended to punctually. The maker must have smell and taste well cul- 

 tivated so that he will be able to detect the slightest change or off-flavor. 

 He must also have some knowledge of the principles of bacteriology. A 

 few years ago, it was largely chance work for a maker to win two high 

 scores in succession. Now we find makers who use pure cultures and have 

 a knowledge of the scientific principles of cream ripening scoring high 

 in most every contest. It is asked — does all this care and trouble nay? I 

 would say yes. As the value of butter may be enhanced as much as five 

 cents a pound. The churning and working of butter is another important 

 factor that does not receive the attention it should from the creamerymen 

 of the country. We have a law limiting the per cent of water in butter to 

 sixteen per cent, yet we find in the chemical analysis of butter in the six- 

 month contest is something less than twelve per cent. The maker who is 

 able to incorporate between fifteen and sixteen per cent of water in his 

 butter will increase his yield nearly four pounds to the hundred. Take an 

 ordinary make of five hundred pounds per day and we will have a differ- 

 ence of twenty pounds. Twenty pounds at twenty cents a pound will give 

 us four dollars, quite an item on a man's wages. Here is where skill comes 

 in. The dry butter or that containing a low per cent of water does not 

 sell any higher than the medium and in some cases not as high. I tested 

 butter in the London market and found the French Rolls and Danish Se- 

 lected which sold the highest in the English market to contain about five 

 per cent more water than the New Zealand butter which brought three or 

 four cents less per pound. In this case, the New Zealander would lose four 

 or five pounds of butter per hundred and was also losing in price. I asked 



