172 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN^ ASSOCIATION. 



Finally, I would sa} r , organize, educate and elevate 

 should be the watch-word of every farmer. 



RIPENING CREAM. 

 MR. JOHN BOYD, of Elmhtjrst. 



What is meant by ripening cream? Are the best re- 

 sults obtained by the present methods ? We all under- 

 stand very well what is meant by ripe fruit, and those of 

 us who have eaten the mature peach or orange ripened 

 on the parent stem can appreciate the full meaning of 

 the word in connection w T ith fruit. The stock feeder 

 who has brought bis favorite steer to the highest state 

 of perfection, fully matured, by a judicious course of 

 feeding and handling, sa} 7 s the animal is ripe. Up to 

 a certain point the fruit or the steer are unripe and 

 unmature, beyond that point they grow stale. Shakes- 

 peare says : 



" From hour to hour we ripe and ripe, 

 And then from hour to hour we rot and rot." 



It is true the term in connection with cream is of 

 modern application, yet it has a still greater signifi- 

 cance in the management of cream, because of its 

 extreme perishable complex nature. I regard the 

 ripening of cream as by far the most important opera- 

 tion in the art of butter-making, because it requires 

 most skill and judgment on the part of the operator. 

 If cream is not ripened sufficiently there will surely be a 

 serious loss, not only in quality, but also a loss in 

 quantity of butter in churning. The same is true if 

 cream is allowed to become overripe. It is indeed a 

 very fine point to know just when cream has arrived at 



