152 



BUTTER-MAKING. 



Objections to Farm Separators. Under the present manner 

 of carrying on the hand-separator system, the quality of butter 

 manufactured from the cream shipped into the central plants 

 is much poorer than that made from whole milk. This is 

 not due to any fault of the system, but to the poor care which 

 the separator and cream receive. The sepa- 

 rator on the farm is frequently kept in an 

 unsuitable place. Often it is located in the 

 barn. If the milk is separated in such a 

 place it will absorb odors and undesirable 

 taints. The cream is seldom taken care of 

 properly after it is separated. The separators 

 often are not cleaned well. A separator can- 

 not be kept in good condition by simply 

 flushing out the bowl with cold water at the 

 end of each separation. It must be taken 

 apart at the close of each skimming; have all 

 ^ ne p ar ^s washed thoroughly in luke-wann 

 scalded. The time and power it requires to 

 skim the milk and to care for the milk is in many instances 

 considered objectionable to the system. 



Thickness of Cream. The thickness of cream which most 

 butter-makers at central plants prefer is cream containing 

 about 30 to 40% of fat. Such cream is not thick enough 

 to cause any inconvenience in sampling and weighing. It can 

 be diluted with a good starter and ripened without getting it 

 so thin as to produce unfavorable conditions for churning. 

 By some it is deemed advisable to skim even thicker than this, 

 up to 50%. Cream containing this much fat, however, is 

 difficult to handle especially in winter, during cold weather. It 

 gets so stiff that it is difficult to pour, and there is also danger 

 of losing more or less cream through its adhering to the sides of 

 the cans. 



A thick cream is advisable from the farmer's standpoint. 

 The thicker the cream is, the more skim-milk he will retain 

 on the farm for feeding purposes. It can also readily be seen 



FIG. 83 .-De 

 hand separator. 



water, and then 



