186 NEUTRALIZATION 



morial. Many fanners' wives have become so proficient in the 

 art of ripening cream and the making of butter that they have 

 gained an enviable reputation in their own communities. The 

 system of ripening or souring cream had been practiced by the 

 home dairies for a long time before alkali tests were used. At 

 this early date it was the custom to ripen or sour the cream until 

 it assumed a thick, granular appearance and had a pleasant 

 sour taste. The flavor that cream imparts to butter depends 

 upon the kind of organisms that predominate in it. The observ- 

 ance of sanitary methods on the part of the producer is con- 

 ducive to the presence of the right species of bacteria in the 

 cream. Cleanliness and sanitary methods should be observed 

 by the makers, whether in the private dairy or in the factory. 

 This is one of the first requisites of good butter-making; hence, 

 all good butter-makers, whether in the private dairy or in the 

 factory, observe cleanliness as a fast rule. Some butter-makers 

 have gained national reputations by exhibiting butter in state and 

 national butter contests, due to their ability to control the ripen- 

 ing of cream, by using pure lactic acid cultures in ripening to a 

 certain degree of acidity. One of the main causes of undesirable 

 flavors in cream is neglect on the part of the producers to thor- 

 oughly cleanse separators and other utensils that come in con- 

 tact with the cream on the farm, thus allowing undesirable 

 ferments to gain control. Another cause is neglect to cool cream, 

 immediately after separation, to a low temperature. No time 

 limit can be rightfully placed on the delivery of cream. Some 

 patrons deliver cream once or twice a week, even during the 

 summer, in such condition that the highest grade of butter can 

 be manufactured from it, while others deliver cream daily and 

 yet its flavor is such that it is impossible to make the finest 

 quality of butter from it. The quality of butter produced 

 depends upon the condition of the cream when it enters the 

 churn. The fact that cream may be high in acid when it reaches 

 the creamery is not an indication that poor butter will be made 

 from it. If the acidity of the cream is reduced so that the cream 

 can be efficiently pasteurized, a pure lactic acid culture can be 

 used again to ripen it, as only a small portion of the milk-sugar 



