TREATMENT OF CREAM PREVIOUS TO THE CHURNING. 211 



Adding sour buttermilk, etc., to cream is also practised 

 in the ripening of cream from modern methods of cream- 

 ing; and here it will happen oftener that pure cultures of 

 a single bacterium are obtained. The better conditions at 

 the creameries and dairies using these methods tend to 

 bring about this result; and the application of accessories, 

 as pasteurization of the cream, etc., would clearly still 

 further forward it. 



It is by no means an easy matter to properly conduct 

 the ripening of the cream under differing conditions of 

 temperature and facilities; it requires great care and 

 power of observation as well as a good store of knowledge 

 on part of the butter-maker. The ripening of the cream 

 has such a decisive influence on the qualities of the butter 

 that cream of the best quality may be entirely spoilt by 

 careless ripening. But, on the other hand-, a proper ripen- 

 ing cannot possibly be conducted in cream poorly cared 

 for and containing a large number of injurious bacteria. 

 The quality of the butter depends more than is generally 

 acknowledged on the manner in which the milk, the 

 cream, and butter have been treated, and above all, on 

 the ripening of the cream. Martens said as early as 

 1869: "-Although other conditions, as the winter feeding, 

 the pasture, the milk-cellar, etc., greatly influence the qual- 

 ity of the butter, these factors very often get the blame 

 for faults originating through carelessness in the treat- 

 ment." 



The first condition for obtaining a proper ripening is 

 that the raw material shall be good. If the quality of the 

 cream is uncertain it is always safest to pasteurize it before 

 ripening! If this operation be well done, and the cream 

 be rapidly cooled immediately after the pasteurization, the 



