THE PRINCIPLES OF BUTTER-MAKING 129 



separator, which extracts more fat from the milk 

 than is obtainable by any other process. If this 

 is followed by treatment which has for its object 

 the conversion of as much of this fat as possible 

 into butter, a maximum quantity will be ob- 

 tained. As regards quality, it is first of all im- 

 portant that the milk should be obtained from 

 carefully fed cows which are milked by clean 

 hands into clean vessels, the milk being sub- 

 sequently strained before manipulation. The 

 apartment in which the various operations take 

 place should be perfectly pure. In this case 

 the cream from the separator will in due 

 course ripen properly, and fine flavour will in 

 consequence develop. Having obtained quan- 

 tity and flavour, we have next to deal with the 

 conversion of the butter-fat obtained in the 

 churn into made-up butter. As we shall see, 

 the grains of fat as they are first produced are 

 floating in buttermilk, the particular constituent 

 of which is casein. This casein is an essential 

 food of the lactic ferment; hence its removal 

 is necessary. Careful washing, therefore, is 

 the first process; and if the tiny grains are 

 washed at a given stage, which is shown in 



K 



