188 



AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



operator. The time in which cream ripens in ordinary 

 practice is influenced by the weather, and the cleanliness 

 of the milker and appliances. The temperature at which 

 the cream is set for ripening, and the amount of fat present, 

 also influence the process and extent of this first fermenta- 

 tion. Hot or warm muggy weather has a tendency to 

 hasten the change ; while a clear, bright atmosphere, as 



Factory Cream Separator. 



well as cold, is slower for the growth of the bacteria, which 

 develop the changes. It is the milk sugar and casein that 

 are broken up when cream sours. Thus thin cream, with 

 10 to 15 per cent, fat, contains more milk-sugar; and acid, 

 or tartness, is generated faster than in cream which con- 

 tains more fat, and less milk-sugar and casein. 



Factory System for Butter- Making. It is to the credit 

 of our dairymen that they were amongst the first outside 

 of Denmark and Sweden to entertain the feasibility of the 

 factory system. For this change New South Wales is 

 largely indebted to the efforts of Mr. D. L. Dymock, of 

 Kiama. The system is both co-operative and proprietary. 

 The milk is taken over from the dairymen as quickly as 

 possible after it is got from the cows, and is paid for, 

 according to the contents of butter fat and the ruling price 

 of butter ; an ordinary fair calculation to all parties being 

 that 251b. of milk, or 2^ gallons, should yield 1 Ib. of 

 butter. This is very close to a correct estimate, as worked 

 out by careful analysis of milk and also by the churn tests 

 from fairly well-fed cows. 



Cream Separating Machines. They are of different 

 patterns, but all get at the result of separating the cream 



