HEAi/THtfui,]smss OF BUTTER f 559 



CHAPTER XIX. 



HEALTHFULNESS, FOOD VALUE AND BIOLOGICAL 

 PROPERTIES OF BUTTER 



Sanitary Purity and Healthfulness : The degree of free- 

 dom >f butter from products of decomposition and from micro- 

 organisms harmful to man, must of necessity vary greatly with 

 the purity of the raw material, the milk and cream from which 

 the butter is made and with the process used for manufacture. 

 And these factors in turn are subject to wide variations. 



Whole milk creameries which receive their milk in fresh 

 condition and have exclusive control over the cream, are in a 

 position to prevent undesirable fermentations that render both 

 cream and butter unpalatable though not necessarily unwhole- 

 some. All creameries receiving cream instead of milk, depend 

 to a large extent on the cream producer for the quality and de- 

 gree of freshness of their raw material. 



Most gathered-cream creameries receive their cream in more 

 or less sour condition, the degree of acidity varying from sweet 

 cream with no more than .2 per cent acid, to sour cream with an 

 acidity of from .3 to 1.2 per cent and averaging about .5 per 

 cent acid. The acidity of the cream naturally varies with such 

 conditions as location, season of year, facilities and inclination 

 of the producer to cool the cream on the farm, and frequency of 

 delivery or shipment. 



Cream coming from territory in the southern tier of the 

 dairy belt, where the climate is relatively warm and the temper- 

 ature of the available water on the farm is too high to permit 

 of sufficient cooling to check acid development entirely, will 

 naturally average higher in acidity than cream produced in the 

 northern sections of the dairy belt where the nights are general- 

 ly cool and the available water for cooling the cream is cold. 



During the hot summer months the cream naturally con- 

 tains a higher per cent of acid than is the case with winter cream. 

 Farmers who have a proper understanding and appreciation of 

 the importance of taking adequate care of their cream, and who 

 are equipped with cooling tanks for the cooling and storing of 

 their cream, are in a position to furnish a much sweeter cream 



