BUTTERMAKING : 243 
a favorable temperature for development. When cream 
is treated in this way the lactic fermentation is practically 
the only one present and a butter with the desirable flavor 
and aroma is the result. It is the only way in which a 
uniform quality of butter can be secured from day to day. 
This system of cream ripening is almost universally fol- 
lowed in Denmark, whose butter is recognized in all the 
world’s markets as possessing qualities of superior excel- 
lence. The method is also gradually gaining favor in 
America and its general adoption can only be a matter of 
time. In the chapter on Cream Pasteurization this method 
is discussed in detail. 
3. STARTER RIPENING, 
This method of ripening consists in adding “starters,” 
or carefully selected sour milk, to the cream after it leaves 
the separator. A full discussion of starters will be found 
in the following chapter. 
In America this is at present the most popular method 
of cream ripening. While it does not, and can not, give 
the uniformly good results obtained by pasteurizing the 
cream, it is far superior to natural or unaided ripening. 
When we have a substance which contains many kinds 
of bacteria, there naturally follows a struggle for exist- 
ence and the fittest of the species will predominate. 
We always have a number of different types of bacteria 
in cream, both desirable and undesirable. The latter can 
be held in check by making the conditions as favorable 
as possible for the former. Fortunately, when milk is 
properly cared for the latic acid germs always pre- 
dominate. But where milk is received at the creamery 
from 30 to 200 patrons, undesirable germs are frequently 
present in such large numbers as to seriously endanger 
