STARTERS 



85 



weeds of the garden correspond to the bad fermentations 

 of cream. If the weeds get the start of the cultivated 

 vegetables, the growth of the latter will be checked or 

 suppressed. So with the bacterial fermentations of 

 cream. When the lactic acid bacteria predominate, other 

 fermentations will be checked or crowded out. The 

 use of a liberal amount of starter nearly always insures 

 a majority of good bacteria and the larger this majority 

 the better the product. 



Classification of Starters. The following is a classi- 

 fication of the various starters in use at the present time : 



' Natural. 



Sour skim-millf. 

 Sour milk 



Starters. 



Sour cream. 

 Buttermilk.. 



Desirable. 



Undesirable. 



O. Douglas Cultures 



\ 1. Boston Butter Culture 

 » 2. Lactic Acid Culture. 



(Boston, Mass.)...( ^ Duplex Culture 



Commer c i a 1 



S. C. Keith Jr 



(American,... , rci'arlesa*':6ass., | fe-^-i" ^Si?u?e""""- 



1. Boston Butter Culture 



Duplex 



Elov Erricson (Mankato, Minn.). 

 Hansen's Lactic Ferment (Little Falls, N. Y.) 

 and a few others. 



NATURAIv STARTERS. 



Sour Milk and Skini=milk. Natural starters are those 

 obtained by allowing milk, skim-milk, or possibly cream, 

 to sour in the ordinary way. 



The earlier methods of using natural starters consisted 

 in selecting milk or skim-milk from the patrons who 

 furnished the best milk at the creamery, and allowing this 

 to sour by holding it over till the following day. While 

 good milk could be selected in this way, the method of 

 souring it was very unsatisfactory. On warm days the 

 milk might oversour, while on cooler days it would be 



