172 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. TPub. Doc. 



its value, than has milk, and that the discovery of the source 

 of desirable flavors in butter was the outgrowth of investi- 

 gations on the production of delicate and much-sought flavors 

 in beer. Indeed, the use of pure cultures of bacteria in the 

 fermentation of beer, to induce desiralfle flavors, has been 

 common in Germany for many years. 



As has been stated, sweet cream butter lacks the flne 

 flavor and delicate aroma of l)utter from cream nicely 

 ripened, and it finds but little sale in American markets, 

 although in some places, Paris especially, there is a grow- 

 ing demand for butter made from fresh cream. This butter 

 will not keep as well as that from well-ripened cream, 

 American markets call for butter that possesses the " quick 

 flavor" and subtle aroma that can only l)e produced by 

 systematic ripening. 



Our best butter-makers owe their success largely to their 

 skill in tempering and producing just the right degree of 

 acidity in cream ; and the value of butter in the market, due 

 in a large degree to its flavor, is dependent mainly on the 

 manasrement of the cream before churnino-. 



The ripening of cream is the direct result of the growth 

 of bacteria, which, in process of development, change some 

 of the constituents (probably the milk sugar) into acids 

 (lactic acid). This ripened product is sour cream, but 

 must not be allowed to sour too much. 



Under the most careful management it is difiicult to get 

 the same flavor in l)utter day after day ; but the product 

 varies, and it is often puzzling to the butter-maker to ac- 

 count for the lack ot uniformity in the article he makes. 

 The explanation must be sought in the development of bac- 

 teria. The cream as gathered contains a large number of 

 species. Sometimes one predominates, sometimes another. 

 The flavor is produced according to the variety of bacteria 

 which gains ascendancy in souring the cream. 



In order to secure a uniform product, many butter-mak- 

 ers ripen their cream by seeding with a starter from a pre- 

 viously made article which possesses an agreeable flavor. 

 This is done 1)y putting into freshly set cream buttermilk 

 from a previous churning, or a small amount of cream from 

 the vats already ripened. In this way the same varieties of 



