138 Dairy Bacteriology. 



or smaller degree the use of an ordinary starter, is of 

 material worth. If great care, however, is taken in the 

 selection of the domestic starter, and it is propagated un- 

 der as equally favorable conditions for the retention of 

 its original purity, as can easily be done with the com- 

 mercial- starter, then there is no reason why practically as 

 good results cannot be obtained in the use of one as the 

 other. 



139. Imperfections in system. The commercial 

 value of butter is so dependent upon the character of the 

 flavor that the effect of a starter on this factor will always 

 be of supreme importance . At the present time no pure 

 culture starter is known that is capable of imparting a 

 much higher flavor than is obtained in the regular way l . 

 Consequently, the maker is unable to secure a higher 

 price for his butter than in the better creameries where 

 the older method is used. 



Another decided disadvantage that occurs where the 

 cream is pasteurized in conjunction with the use of a 

 pure culture, is the effect on the grain or body of the 

 product. As judged by our present American standards, 

 the grain of the butter is materially lowered where the 

 cream has been heated. 2 This undoubtedly would not be 

 so considered in the foreign, especially the English or 

 Danish markets, but so long as our market standards 

 exact the qualities now demanded on grain, this will to 

 some extent handicap pasteurized butter. 



140. Propagation of starter for cream-ripening-. 

 The preparation and propagation of a starter for cream- 

 ripening is a process involving considerable bacteriologi- 

 cal knowledge, whether the starter is of domestic origin 

 or prepared from a pure- culture ferment. In any event, 



1 This statement is confined to American conditions. 

 2 Farrington and Russell, Wis. Expt. Stat., Bull. 69, p. 28. 



