CHAPTER XXV 

 THE MICROBE OF BUTTER 



THE up-to-date dairyman separates the cream 

 from his milk with a machine. This is done as 

 soon as the milk comes from the cow. If this 

 cream is churned immediately, while it is sweet, 

 the butter will be unsavory. No person in the 

 world, with a few possible exceptions, will 

 like it or want it. 



Hence the dairyman, before churning, allows 

 the cream to stand until it " ripens." This may re- 

 quire twelve, twenty-four, or more hours, according 

 to circumstances. The cream ripens sooner at a 

 temperature of 65 or 70 degrees than at lower 

 temperatures. Other conditions may vary the 

 time. But if the dairyman churns the cream the 

 moment it is ripe, the churning will be easy, and 

 the butter will have the best flavor possible. 



Now microbes, especially two species, are the 

 sole cause of ripening. As the milk is new and 

 sweet when the cream is separated from it, the 

 cream takes along within itself a large quantity of 

 the microbes of milk. These now subsist on the 

 sugar of milk, which the cream also takes along, 

 and converts it into lactic acid. This sours the 

 cream. The other species, which are the microbes 



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