NATURAL STARTERS. 1 99 



Natural Starters. The starters thus prepared are called 

 pure culture starters, and though they are widely used, a more 

 common method of accomplishing the same end is by the use of 

 what are known as natural starters or home starters. These 

 are prepared by the butter-maker himself, without the neces- 

 sity of purchasing a commercial product. A natural starter is 

 nothing more than a lot of naturally soured milk or cream 

 obtained under proper conditions. It may be prepared 

 in a variety of ways, but the following will illustrate, in gen- 

 eral, the method of making it. A perfectly healthy cow 

 is selected from a cleanly, .well-kept dairy. After the under 

 parts of her body are carefully brushed and the udder 

 moistened with a damp cloth, the first few jets of milk from 

 the teats are rejected, and the rest is drawn into a sterilized 

 vessel. This vessel is then covered at once, taken to the 

 dairy, heated to a proper temperature and passed through 

 a separator. The skimmed milk is collected in a sterilized 

 vessel, covered, and set aside to sour. The material sours 

 in the course of a couple of days, and after it has become 

 distinctly acid, but before it has become curdled, it serves as 

 a starter for the cream ripening. 



There are, of course, many other methods by which such 

 starters can be prepared, for a natural starter is nothing 

 more than a lot of milk or cream which has soured naturally. 



It is quite impossible for the dairyman to be sure that the 

 natural starter which he prepares in this way contains the 

 kind of bacteria that he is most desirous of putting into his 

 cream. He has, indeed, no means of knowing what bacteria 

 are present, or of controlling them. Logically, then, the 

 method of the use of natural starters is incorrect. The prac- 

 tical experience of dairymen shows, however, that the natural 

 starters, as a rule, are quite successful, and produce a ripen- 

 ing of the cream that is satisfactory. But they are not uni- 

 form, and occasionally are not reliable. Even though pro- 

 duced under similar conditions, they do not always give rise 



