116 THE BOOK OF BUTTER 



at which to inoculate cream, or transfer portions of starter 

 from one culture to another, is when the curd is soft. 

 It is usually impossible to make inoculations at this time. 

 Therefore, the custom has arisen to place small cultures 

 in the refrigerator when they are ripe and to cool the larger 

 ones by running water about them. Sometimes when 

 low ripening temperatures are employed, the danger of 

 permitting the cultures to over-ripen is not great. 



The ideal method to follow, so far as the actual prac- 

 tice in the dairy and creamery is concerned, is to transfer 

 the starter cultures each day. By careful handling, the 

 mother cultures may be carried successfully by only two 

 or three transfers a week. 



RIPENING CREAM IN A CREAMERY 



85. Method. In a creamery or a large dairy, it is 

 necessary to carry more than a pint or a quart of starter. 

 Along with the mother starter, a second starter of ten 

 to fifty pounds may be carried. After the mother starter 

 in the glass container is inoculated, the remainder of the 

 previous day's mother starter is poured into the second 

 starter, and the cream is inoculated from this second 

 starter. In many large creameries, third and fourth 

 starters are carried. 



The improved starter-can is a labor-saver, but not 

 an absolute necessity. It may be used to advantage 

 when circumstances warrant it. Some starter-makers 

 prefer to use shot-gun cans ; others like the regular ten- 

 gallon milk cans. In either of the two last-named cases, 

 the temperatures can be easily controlled for pasteuriza- 

 tion and ripening by placing the cans in a barrel or in a 

 plank box. During pasteurization it is necessary to agitate 

 the milk. In this larger quantity the pasteurization tern- 



