FLAVOR 
IN BUTTER. 
ALL ABOUT 
of bacterial growth in the cream. The conclusions 
which I have given above, are not mere guesses, but 
are the i-esult of a long series of most careful and 
rigid experiments upon this matter. I find it possible 
to produce the butter flavor from all sorts of cream, 
and under almost any condition, provided I put the 
right species of bacteria into the cream. 
Middletown, Conn. h. w. conn. 
the last few weeks, and is now a most beautiful sight, 
standing about 15 inches high, of a most vigorous ap¬ 
pearance, and now and then a lovely long crimson 
head appearing. I thank The Rurai, for bringing it 
to my notice as well as a great many other valuable 
things. j s. K. 
Littlestown, Ba. 
DOES FINE FLAVOR DEPEND ON FOOD ? 
Is the Cow Responsible for It? 
1. Is what the market calls flavor and aroma in butter, the direct 
influence of the feed? Can flavor (market kind) be secured by 
the feed ? If so, what rations fed to cows will give the desired 
flavor ? 2. Has butter fat, when first drawn with the milk, any 
flavor that has a resemblance, or relationship, to the flavor that 
is found in the choicest made and high-priced butter ? 3. Would 
indigestion in a cow, or her being unable to digest the ration 
because so large in amount, or gluttony, incident to a change of 
food where the amount was unrestricted, have any influence, bad 
or otherwise, upon the taste of the butter ? 4. What causes 
butter at times to have a taste like the food the cows have eaten ? 
5. If food is the source of flavor in butter, as some assert, of 
what use are “starters,” cults, “No. 41,” and the like, in fine 
buttermaking ? 
Dr. Conn Says, “Bacteria/' 
1. The “ flavor” is not the result of any direct in¬ 
fluence of food. Undoubtedly the food has great in¬ 
fluence upon the flavor, but the delicate butter aroma 
is only indirectly related to the food. This conclusion 
I base upon the fact that I have succeeded in produc¬ 
ing the desired flavor from the milk of cows fed upon 
the widest variety of foods. 2. Butter fat, when first 
drawn with the milk, does ?iot have the flavor found 
in the choicest butter. In my own opinion, it has no 
flavor at all resembling it. 3. Very likely indigestion 
or change of food may influence the flavor of the but- 
Crimson Clover Pasture in Kentucky. 
I sowed 25 acres of Crimson clover last fall, about 
September 1, on wheat stubble where Red clover had 
been killed by a late freeze in the spring. As I 
wanted it only for pasture aDd to plow under, I 
simply disc-harrowed the stubble, sowed the seed and 
rolled. The seed actually came up in 48 hours, but 
the fall being very dry, some of it perished in the 
course of a few weeks. It did not make much of a 
fall growth, from some cause, but stood the winter 
well, being covered with snow most of the time ; but 
even the exposed spots came out all right, and I 
think it is as hardy as Medium clover. The ther¬ 
mometer was from 5 to 15 degrees below zero on five 
or six different days. I have pastured it a good deal 
this spring, which has still been dry, with only a few 
light showers. 
I find that Crimson clover blooms about three 
weeks before the Medium ; it has been in bloom now 
for a week, and is about 8 or 10 inches high. I have 
150 sheep, and as many lambs on it at pres¬ 
ent, and it appears to hold its own. It has 
a ranker smell than Red clover, and I hardly 
think stock relish it as well ; still they eat it 
freely, but I notice that they eat any chance 
plant of the Red clover. I don’t think it 
gives as early pasture as rye, but it cer¬ 
tainly holds out longer ; by pasturing heavy 
enough to keep the bloom down, and not let 
it seed, it may last till July. As far as I have 
seen, I think it invaluable for sowing in corn, 
or as a substitute where Red has failed. 
From appearance, I judge its fertilizing 
properties to be far ahead of rye ; it cer- 
tainly shades the ground much better. 
Owensboro, Ky, A. il 
R. N.-Y.—We wish to know how long the ^ 
pasture lasts. 
Dr. Babcock's Opinion. 
Butter fats are neutral bodies which have scarcely 
any flavor when pure. The aroma or flavor of butter 
is chiefly developed from the curd or other constit¬ 
uents of the milk that are retained with the butter 
fat when the butter is made. These flavors are, to a 
large extent, produced by micro-organisms in the 
milk or cream ; hence butter made from fresh milk 
does not resemble in flavor the choice butters on the 
market, although it may in some degree acquire such 
flavor after it has been kept for some time. That the 
flavor is somewhat dependent upon the food, no one 
can deny, as characteristic flavors of such substances 
as onions, turnips, ensilage and other strong-flavored 
foods, are often imparted to the butter. Such flavors 
are usually volatile, and may be expelled by thor¬ 
ough aeration, or, better still, by heating, after which 
the desired flavor may be developed by ripening the 
cream with starters of the proper kind. Generally 
milk contains an abundance of those organ¬ 
isms that impart a good flavor to butter; 
hence good butter may be made without 
the use of starters. If, however, the milk 
be tainted, the addition of a starter contain¬ 
ing the organisms desired, may be of great 
advantage; especially is this true if the 
cream be first Pasteurized to destroy the 
organisms which it contains. More uniform 
► results may be obtained in all cases, by the 
ft £> use of a properly-prepared starter. 
Wisconsin Exp. Sta. s. M. rabcock. 
What is the Effect of Indigestion ? 
(■ 1. No difference in the flavor of butter is 
noticed, so far as I am aware, whether cows 
are fed properly-cured corn stalks, ensilage 
or clover hay, if the butter be w T ell made. Of 
course tbe feed has some influence, for w’hen 
onions are eaten, the milk is affected. The 
influence of these feeds on the general qual¬ 
ity, however, is another question. 2. I think 
that it is not close. It is acknowledged, I be¬ 
lieve, that butter made from fresh cream from 
the separator, lacks the flavor or aroma the 
market demands. 3. I would assume the in¬ 
fluence to be quite incidental, although I 
know of no data on this point. I opine, how¬ 
ever, that in some of the so-called fancy 
herds, wdiere a very high grade of butter is 
produced, that indigestion is more common 
than might be supposed, especially in stables 
where high feeding is resorted to. 4. There 
are some oils existing in certain vegetables, 
that are of very strong flavor. Other oils 
in vegetables are no doubt affected by fer¬ 
mentative material, as where decay occurs. 
Animal fats are practically the same as vege¬ 
table fats in composition, and it is probable 
that the odors from impregnated fat, are car¬ 
ried by the blood into the mammary glands, and thus 
affect the milk and fat in it. When one considers how 
disagreeable the breath may become by eating an 
onion, it is easy to imagine that this obnoxious odor 
may extend much further ; for the oxygen drawn into 
the lungs, finds its way generally into the circulation 
and to the milk glands. 5. It has been amply demon¬ 
strated by the work of the Danes, as w’ell as in this 
country, especially by Dr. Conn, that the desired mar¬ 
ket aroma or flavor in butter, is dependent upon the 
cultivation in the cream of certain bacteria. 
Indiana Experiment Station. c. s. PLUMB. 
How Food Affects the Flavor. 
1 . (a). The flavor and aroma of butter are caused 
partly by the direct influence of the feed, and partly are 
the result of partial decomposition or ripening of the 
cream, (b). To some extent, flavor may be secured by 
the feed, and it would be a difficult matter to secure 
fine-flavored butter from cream which had been pro¬ 
duced by feeding cows on, say, straw alone, (c). For 
fine flavor in butter, clover hay (properly cured), pea 
meal and corn meal, with bran and a few mangels 
or carrots, would, in my judgment, be best. Feed and 
proper ripening of cream, together with the exclusion 
of all bad flavors, and careful handling of cream and 
butter, are needed to secure proper flavor in butter. 
Some prefer a “ sweet-cream flavor,” and for this 
flavor, feed has the most influence. There are flavors 
and flavors. For instance, some few like a turnipy 
flavor, and to secure this, feed has the most influence. 
2. Butter fat in fresh milk or cream separated soon 
Success at Some Northern Points. 
I sowed Crimson clover last year the 
second week in duly in the corn field. It 
came up very quickly, made excellent forage 
for the chicks during the summer and fall, 
and is now looking well. 1 shall pasture it 
for a short time, and then turn it under 
for corn again; also sowing more clover. 
I also sowed some in August, after oats, 
plowing and harrowing the stubble. The 
ground w’as very dry, but a slight shower 
brought the seed up very quickly. It sur¬ 
vived the drought and hard winter, and 
now has a fine growth, which I shall turn 
down in 10 days for corn. I sowed again 
the last of September, but that was a failure, 
being too late. j. e. b. 
New City, N. Y. 
Following The R. N.-Y.’s advice, I sowed 
a small piece of Crimson clover, choosing 
the coldest spot on the farm—a stony west¬ 
ern hillside. I sowed July 29, got a good stand, 
and it wintered fairly well; well enough for me to 
give it a larger trial, which I shall do this summer. 
Wemple, N. Y. 6. v. l. 
I have read with considerable interest The R. N.-YVs 
reports on Crimson clover. East season, about Sep¬ 
tember 10, I sowed 2)4. acres at the rate of 15 pounds 
per acre. It came up finely, stood the winter fairly 
well, and is now a nice crop, with here and there 
some of the plants killed out, evidently owing to the 
seed not having been sown early enough last fall. 
Considering the extremely severe winter w T e have 
just passed, I believe that Crimson clover has done 
very well with us. Next season I purpose sowdng it 
earlier in the fall, most likely in the middle of August, 
and thus get sturdy plants which will be able to en¬ 
dure our winters. From the appearance of the field 
now, I am of the opinion that Crimson clover has 
come to stay with our Canadian farmers. I know’ 
that the Yankees are alw’ays more or less ahead of 
our people, but we usually catch up. 
Toronto, Canada. anton simmers. 
SINGLE STOOL OF CRIMSON CLOVER. Fig. 113, 
Seeded August 4, 1894. 
ter. As butter is ordinarily made, this w’ill almost cer¬ 
tainly follow. Here, too, the influence is an indirect 
one, but no less certain. 4. Sometimes the food does 
have a direct influence in filling the butter with 
peculiar odors, such as that of garlic. The explana¬ 
tion is not positively known, but it is probably due to 
volatile products of the food passing directly into the 
milk. 5. The food is the source of the flavor indi¬ 
rectly. the flavor being directly the result of certain 
decomposition products of the cream. These flavors 
are produced by bacteria which multiply in the cream 
w'hen it is ripened. Whether proper flavors are pro¬ 
duced in the cream, will depend upon whether the 
proper species of bacteria are present in sufficient 
quantity. Some species of bacteria produce very 
good flavors, some very poor flavors, and some will 
completely ruin the flavor and the resulting butter. 
The buttermaker has no method of determining what 
species are present, and will get the proper flavor if 
he chance to have the proper species. The various 
“ starters ” and “ cults ” are supposed to contain the 
proper species of bacteria to produce a good flavor. 
Bacillus 41 has been demonstrated to be a bacteria 
which will produce this flavor. The use of these 
“ starters” may be compared to planting a field with 
seed. If the field is left to itself, something will grow, 
but we cannot tell what. If planted with clover, we 
may depend upon the clover. So the cream, when in¬ 
oculated with such a starter as No. 41, may be depended 
upon to develop the right kind of bacteria and, there¬ 
fore, the proper flavor. This flavor comes, of course, 
indirectly from the food, but directly from the products 
I sowed a field of tomatoes with Crimson clover the 
last of September. On account of vines, there could 
be no preparation of the soil, and, of course, much 
seed was lost. Still considerable germinated, and is 
now (May 13) growing finely 6 to 10 in< hes high. It 
did not winterkill. I shall depend upon it for seed¬ 
ing a piece this fall. The land is a heavy clay loam, 
and the small plants did not heave out. e. m. it. 
South Haven, Mich. 
