TREATMENT OF CREAM PREVIOUS TO THE CHURNING. 215 



easily be obtained by enclosing the ripening- vessel in wood, 

 hay mattresses, etc. 



In the creameries of North Germany the ripening 

 usually takes place in small tin vessels placed in water- 

 basins, the temperature of which is regulated by means 

 of steam or ice. In many respects this is a very prac- 

 tical method; but it has the disadvantage that a good 

 deal of moisture is introduced into the ripening-room, so 

 that it becomes very difficult and almost impossible to 

 keep the room free from colonies of mold and bacteria. 



The Ripening Process. In many places abroad for 

 instance in Germany the contents of the ripening-vat 

 are left to sour, without the addition of any starter, as in 

 case of the old shallow-setting system. This method 

 is, however, too slow and uncertain, and the application of 

 a separate acid starter is therefore always to be recom- 

 mended. We must carefully watch so that the cream is 

 not contaminated or mixed through the starter with a 

 fluid containing faulty fermentations. The qualities of 

 the starter must therefore be daily tested by taste and 

 odor, and the progress of the ripening process be watched 

 by repeated careful observations. 



Acid Starter. At our creameries three different kinds 

 of starters are generally used at the present, viz. : (1) butter- 

 milk from the last churning; (2) ripened cream; (3) butter- 

 milk from another creamery. The well-known Danish 

 dairy instructor, Boggild, treated this topic in a lecture de- 

 livered in Odense in 1890. The following description and 

 discussion of the ripening process is taken from the lecture : 



1. Buttermilk Acid Starter. " There is no lack of ex- 

 amples that older, well-conducted creameries have used 

 buttermilk as starter during a series of years; but i. would 



