CREAM-RIPENING. 205 
pasteurize all the cream, add a starter, and ripen in the usua 
way. If the cream is sour, and there is a danger of souring 
the remainder of the milk, or clogging the separator, it is ad- 
visable to add it directly to the cream-vat. The sourness of 
the cream is not so dangerous if the flavor is clean. If it is 
very unclean, and not sour, the mixing with the whole milk, 
the separation, and pasteurization will eliminate a great many 
of the undesirable flavors and check the activity of a large 
portion of the undesirable germs present. When the starter 
is again added and ripened, a good quality of butter is ob- 
tained. If a comparatively large amount of cream in poor 
condition is received, then it is advisable to retain it by itself. 
4. General Creamery Conditions.—Occasionally it happens 
that a creamery is not properly equipped with vats, so as to 
enable an operator to handle two lots of cream. Where one 
man has to do all the work, one churning is about all he can 
accomplish daily, besides attending to the remainder of the 
work. Under such conditions it is doubtful whether it will 
pay to purchase additional vats and hire additional help, in 
order to keep poor hand-separator cream separate from the 
remainder, through the different steps of manufacture. Since 
the butter is not sold strictly on its merits, there would, as a 
rule, be no profit for the average small creamery to grade the 
cream, on account of the additional labor and apparatus re- 
quired. If a high quality of butter is the supreme aim of the 
creamery operator, then it becomes very essential that the poor 
cream be kept separate. 
EXAMINING AND TESTING CREAM FOR ACIDITY DURING 
RIPENING. 
As has been stated before, the best flavor in butter is pro- 
duced when cream is ripened to the proper degree of acidity. 
If it is ripened too much, or overripened, the butter will assume 
a high flavor and strong aroma, while if not ripened high enough, 
it will be a little flattish with less aroma. Many makers depend 
