18 DAIRYING 



549. Selecting the Starter. The first thing for a butter- 

 maker to learn about starter-making is how to transplant de- 

 sirable ferments from one day to another into the sweet cream* 

 without introducing a great many undesirable bacteria at the 

 same time. 



Another important point in starter-making is the skillful 

 selection of a desirable starter. This knowledge is obtained by 

 close observation and by training the senses of taste and smell 

 to distinguish a good starter from a poor one. The ability to 

 detect the peculiar odor which experience has shown to be char- 

 acteristic of a good starter and to determine whether or not it 

 will injure or improve the butter is more easily acquired by 

 some people than by others. Some people have a very acute 

 taste and a keen sense of smell ; they can tell instantly whether 

 a starter will give good or bad results if used to ripen cream. 

 This acuteness is often a natural gift, but nearly all persons may 

 cultivate it by a systematic training obtained from daily obser- 

 vations regarding the effect which certain starters have had on 

 butter flavor. Some peculiar odor of a starter may often be 

 noticed in butter made from cream in which the starter was 

 used, and by repeated comparisons, the buttermakers may, after 

 a while, be able to state before a starter is used whether it will 

 produce a good, a bad, or an indifferent flavor in the butter. 



A sharp, clean, acid taste with no trace of an offensive odor 

 is about all that can be given in the way of description of the 

 desirable flavor to be sought for in selecting a starter. 



548. Vigor of the Starter. Another thing to be considered 

 in starter-making, besides the purity of the culture, is the vigor 

 and the thriftiness of the ferments which have been selected. 

 A weak or enfeebled growth of even a desirable culture may not 

 produce good results in the cream, and an effort should be made 

 to provide conditions favorable for a vigorous development of 

 the bacteria wanted. The growth of bacteria in a starter may be 

 compared with that of vegetation. When plants are transplanted 

 in a greenhouse or garden, the strong and thrifty ones get 

 started more quickly and grow better than those which are weak 



