CHAPTER XXIII. 



STARTERS. 



Definition.- Starter is the general term applied to 

 cultures of lactic acid organisms, whether they have been 

 selected artificially in a laboratory, or at dairies by pick- 

 ing out milk that seems to contain these organisms to 

 the exclusion of others. A good starter may be defined 

 as a clean flavored batch of sour milk or sour skim-milk. 



The word starter derives its name from the fact that 

 a starter is used to "start" or assist the development of 

 the lactic fermentation in cream ripening. 



Object of Starters. Cream and milk ordinarily con- 

 tain many kinds of bacteria good, bad, and indifferent 

 and to insure the predominance of the lactic acid type 

 in the ripening process it is necessary to reinforce the 

 bacteria of this type already existing in the cream or 

 milk by adding large quantities of them in a pure form, 

 that is, unmixed with undesirable species. 



The bacterial or plant life of cream may be aptly com- 

 pared with the plant life of a garden. In both we find 

 plants of a desirable and undesirable character. The 

 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 



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