The word ripened, or matured, has been used several times, 

 and what is meant by the term is, that the cream has undergone a 

 certain amount of fermentation and become si ghtly sour, after 

 which we get butter with a better flavor, better keeping quality, 

 and more of it. 



Some persons prefer what is called sweet-cream butter, that is 

 butter made from fresh cream when perfectly sweet. To some 

 this kind of butter seems perfection, but to most it is devoid of 

 flavor, and even were it equal to that made from ripened cream, it 

 does not keep sweet for more than a day or two. From the dairy- 

 man's point of view it is not at all profitable, as there is a very 

 serious loss of butter in the butter- milk, often as much as 7 or 8 

 per cent., and this alone would prevent this process being folk/wed 

 if it were more generally known, but it is rare that a dairyman ever 

 tests his buttermilk to see whether there be any loss or not. 



Another disadvantage is that the fresh cream is hard to churn in 

 wai in weather, often taking hours and sometimes swelling up, the 

 butter not coming at all unless a quantity of the cream be taken 

 out of the churn and cold water added. Before the cream is put 

 into the churn its consistency should be examined, and if on the 

 thick side, water should be used to thin it down, as it is better to 

 err on the side of having the cream too thin than too thick. With 

 very thick cream there is 'early always a considerable loss in the 

 buttermilk. The thicker the cream, as a rule, the greater the loss. 

 Cream that gives about 45 per cent, its weight of butter is about 

 correct, and less likely to be over-churned or leave any loss than 

 when it is either thicker or thinner. I have not infrequently known 

 cream to vary from 30 per cent, to 90 per cent, of butter ; in the 

 latter case it was almost a solid mass and had to be worked through 

 a sieve and mixed with a great quantity of water to get it to churn 

 at all, and even then the butter was not good. This cream was 

 obtained from a separator that was driven at a speed almost double 

 the average rate, through a wrong sized driving pulley having been 

 put on the ^iaft. It was fortunate that no serious accident 

 occurred. Where no separator is employed and the old method 

 of setting milk in dishes is used, the cream is more likely to be on 

 the thick side, especially if the milk is scalded. Where it is desired 

 to scald the milk, the temperature should never be raised above 

 180 degrees from 170 to 180 degrees is a good temperature, and 

 in the hot weather better results will often be obtained from 

 scalded milk than that set naturally. After the milk is heated up 

 t<), say, 170 degrees, it should then be cooled as rapidly as possible. 

 [f a fair supply of water is available the dishes may be set in a 

 trough made for the purpose, and a constant stream of water 

 all iwed to How around them. 



l>v scalding in summer more butter may be obtained from the 

 milk than by ordinary setting ; as the milk will keep sweet longer 

 and thus give the cream more time to rise. In warm weather, if 



