206 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



buy now for preparation of the starter, is pure and, if it is given 

 a chance in pure milk the bacteria in the culture will predominate, 

 and bring about the flavor that is desired in butter. On the other 

 hand, if the milk is not perfectly pure the bacteria in the cul- 

 ture will not have the desired effect, but the unfavorable bacteria 

 that was in the milk will predominate and influence the butter. 

 Upon this vital point depends the success of the starter, as the 

 purer the milk and the cream the eisier it can be inoculated with 

 a particular kind of bacteria and have this kind of bacteria pre- 

 dominate. The poorer the milk or cream the lesser the effect 

 of the bacteria with which it was inoculated. 



It is my opinion that the best starter to use for cream ripen- 

 ing is the commercial starter, although sometimes one may have 

 good success with a home-made starter. The home-made starter 

 is prepared by the buttermaker catching a few pint jars of good 

 milk from different patrons and holding the same at a tempera- 

 ture of 70 degrees until it gets thick. This gives the butter- 

 maker an opportunity to select the one that is free from pin 

 holes and has a nice clean acid flavor. This is then called the 

 mother starter. This mother starter is then ready to be used 

 in the pasturized milk which was previously prepared. Now 

 the bacteria which caused the souring of the pint jar will cause 

 the ripening of the pasturized milk, and if the right kind of 

 bacteria is in the jar and care taken all the way along with the 

 starter and the ripening of the cream, the butter will have the 

 flavor that such bacteria produces. 



The skim milk starter or raw milk starter which is made 

 by simply holding milk at a warm enough temperature so that 

 it will sour by the next morning is not considered a safe 

 starter, owing to the fact that the milk will possess the flavor 

 according to the kind of bacteria that happened to gain control 

 of the souring process and these bacteria are just as liable to be 

 unfavorable as favorable for producing good flavor in butter 

 and one is very apt to make an uneven grade of butter, as the 

 flavor depends wholly upon circumstances, and the buttermaker 

 is simply trusting to luck. 



