166 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASiSiOOIATION. 



CREAMERY BUTTER MAKING. 



A. E. HOFFMAN, DE KALB. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



It is not so very many years ago that the subject of 

 creamery butter making was an unheard of one at the dairy 

 convention, and it is an indication of progress on the part of 

 the dairymen to find them so much interested in this sub- 

 ject. It is a subject of great importance to dairymen, and 

 so please allow me to say a few things about it from a butter- 

 maker's point of view. We are come here from all parts of 

 the State to learn all we can and we all expect to go home 

 prepared for better work. You dairymen will expect more 

 of the butter-makers who are here and the butter-makers cer- 

 tainly have a right to expect more of the dairymen. For, if 

 there is to be any improvement in creamery butter-making, 

 the farmer and the butter-maker must co-operate. It is im- 

 possible to make good butter out of poor milk. A butter- 

 maker may be able to keep what flavor there is in the milk 

 but no power in the world can make fine flavored butter out 

 of bad flavored milk. There is really no secret in good butter- 

 making, if you have good milk to begin with, and there is 

 no special set of rules to follow. A butter-maker must use 

 his own judgment as to what treatment will secure the best 

 results from the milk. You have been told a great deal in 

 the past day or two about the care of cows, cleanliness of 

 stables, etc., etc., so I will not take up your time in talking 

 much about that. I will only say that it is not all theory, 

 but an actual fact, that the success of the creamery product 

 depends almost wholly upon the care you give your cows. 



Now, while I consider the subject of churning and work- 

 ing butter a very important one, I think you will all agree 

 with me that the condition of the cream before it goes* into 

 the churn is important also. So I would say first, after sep- 

 arating and cooling the cream down to about 56 degrees in 

 the forenoon, it is in condition after dinner to be prepared 

 for ripening. It is necessary to stir it often, especially if 

 you are heating it, to get it of an even temperature and to 



