62 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



THE INFLUENCE OF FOOD UPON THE QUALITY OF 



BUTTER. 



There are many factors which determine the quality of butter, 

 the most prominent of which is the individual character of the 

 animal. Besides this we have the kind and condition of food, 

 surroundings in which the animal is kept and the period of lacta- 

 tion. We know of the influence of these factors only in a general 

 way. The exact relations between breed, food, surroundings and 

 other conditions and the chemical and physical characteristics of 

 butter are but little understood. Still more ignorant are we of 

 the way in which certain causes produce their effects, as for 

 instance, granting that the grade of butter may be changed by 

 varying the food, we scarcely know anything about how this effect 

 is produced. It is a fact that but few careful scientific investiga- 

 tions have been made having for their object a determination of 

 the causes that influence the quality of butter. There has been, 

 however, quite a material advance in recent years in our knowledge 

 of the butter fats and in our methods of determining the physical 

 and chemical properties of butter. This has been brought about 

 to some extent by the study that has been necessary in finding 

 some method of distinguishing between natural and artificial 

 butters, and is an important step towards a better knowledge of 

 the conditions that influence the character of butter. 



The study which a butter is given in the laboratory, at the pres- 

 ent time, involves principally the following determinations : The 

 specific gravity, the melting point, the percentage of volatile acids 

 and the iodine number or the amount of olein. There are other 

 tests applied which are of less importance, perhaps. All these 

 determinations are of value only in their relation to what we 

 speak of as the table qualities of butter. 



The influence of different foods upon butter is a subject in 

 regard to which there are many conflicting opinions. For instance, 

 it has been very strongly asserted by nianv Maine dairymen that 

 no butter is of so high grade as that which is made when the grain 

 ration consists of corn meal and wheat bran. On the other hand, 

 those who are feeding the oil meals freely assert that the quality 

 of the butter is not in anv wav injured. One difficultv that is in 



