1895 
359 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
after milking, has a “sweet-cream flavor,” and some 
persons consider butter with such flavor “ the choicest 
made,” and consequently the highest-priced butter. 
But for the general market in Canada, the demand is 
the well-known objectionable flavor and odor. There 
are, probably, circumstances under which other mate¬ 
rials may be directly carried over, as witness the find¬ 
ing of traces of potassium iodide in the milk of cows 
terial infection until the ripening process is to begin. 
(4). The use, in ripening the cream, of bacteria that 
are known to produce the highest-flavored products. 
In this view of the case, the food is not the direct 
for ripened cream butter, and. consequently, the but¬ 
ter fat in fresh milk does not have all of the desired 
flavor. 3. I have noticed a flavor in milk for cheese¬ 
making, that resembles the breath of a person or cow 
having indigestion. Such flavor would, 
doubtless, affect the flavor of the butter, 
though I cannot recall any instances where 
I have met such in the butter. Proper ripen¬ 
ing of the cream, would overcome this flavor 
of indigestion to some extent or, perhaps, 
altogether. 4. Whether the flavor of foods 
to which this substance had been administered as a 
medicine. I know of no reason for believing that a 
slight attack of indigestion would exert any direct 
influence, bad or otherwise, upon the taste of the 
source of the flavor, except to a very limited extent 
and, possibly, not at all—barring such materials as 
cabbage, turnips, etc. Furthermore, excepting the 
direct contamination by foul odors or filth, it is likely 
that the flavor is mainly due to the kind of 
bacteria employed in the ripening process, 
and the extent to which their operations are 
allowed to go. 
Conn’s Culture No. 41 has been used by us 
to a very limited extent ; yet 
in every case a 
decided improvement in the commercial flavor 
of the butter over that made from exactly 
similar milk without the culture; was ob¬ 
served. Our experience with these pure cul¬ 
tures has not been extensive enough to war¬ 
rant us in saying that they are so easily ma¬ 
nipulated that the ordinary buttermaker may 
materially improve his product by their use ; 
they give good promise. 
It so happens that the feeds reputed to exert 
the most beneficial effect upon the flavor of 
butter, are comparatively expensive. No 
dairyman in the East could afford to feed 
oats at present prices, unless he has a special 
market for his butter, in which it commands 
a fancy price. The same is true of bran, al¬ 
though to a more limited extent. Moreover, 
with proper manipulation and care, butter 
that will command the highest market price 
outside of the large cities, may be made from 
the feeding of liberal quantities of cotton-seed 
meal, gluten meal in connection with corn 
meal or wheat chop, and corn stover. In New 
York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the State 
College creamery butter has sold in open mar¬ 
ket at from two to three cents above the 
highest quotations when made exclusively 
from these cheaper feeds. ir. j. waters. 
State College, Pa. 
It’s in the Handling of the Milk. 
1 . I believe the market flavor of butter to 
be, chiefly, neither the direct nor the indirect 
effect of the food, but rather of the method 
of handling the milk and cream. In my 
judgment, the direct influence of the food 
upon the flavor of butter has been greatly 
exaggerated. The statements of experience 
as to the direct influence of food upon flavor, 
in so far as it exists, are not sufficiently 
uniform to make it plain that any particular 
ration is better than several other rations 
might be. 2. The flavors which butter fats 
have when first drawn with the milk, must be 
The Fat, Fermentation and Salt. 
The flavor of butter appears to be a com¬ 
bination flavor, with its main sources, 1, in 
the butter fat, 2, in the products of fermen¬ 
tation, and, 3, in the salt. In most cases, 
the flavor from the fermentation is the 
SINGLE STOOL OF CRIMSON CLOVER. Fio. 114 
Seeded August 13, 1894. Life Size, April 24, 1895. 
largely obscured, it appears to me, by the added flavors 
which come through fermentation. 3. It is entirely 
reasonable to suppose that a diseased condition of the 
cow from any cause, might influence the flavor of the 
milk, and, consequently, of the butter. 4. While I 
cannot affirm it always to be true, I believe that in 
many cases, at least, flavors or taste like the food 
which the cows have eaten, are absorbed from the 
atmosphere of the stables after the milk is drawn. 
5. When at the World s Fair, Dr. Conn gave me the 
privilege of testing the odor and flavor of cream fer¬ 
mented with different bacteria, and I was convinced, 
as every one must be with a similar experience, that 
the kind of fermentation which proceeds in cream, 
has a profound influence upon the aroma or flavor. 
It is foolish, I think, for people to assert that food is 
the entire source of flavor in butter. 
Maine Experiment Station. w. h. Jordan. 
A Talk About Food Effects. 
Under ordinary circumstances, the market flavor or 
aroma of butter is not, except possibly to a very small 
extent, the direct influence of the feed used, and is 
largely dependent upon the conditions under which the 
milk is kept, the ripening of the cream, and the making 
and handling of the butter. It is generally believed by 
the most experienced dairymen, however, that certain 
feeds, such as cotton-seed meal, gluten meal, rye, 
overripe or slightly musty hay, straw, ensilage con¬ 
taining excessive amounts of acid, due frequently to 
the immature condition of the material when siloed, 
are incapable of making what the market calls the 
highest-flavored and best grades of butter. When 
properly made, butter from such feeds does not 
possess objectionable flavors or odors, but lacks the 
quick, delicate flavor, fine texture and good body of 
the finest grades. • It is also believed that June grass, 
early cut hay, sweet ensilage, oats wheat bran and 
corn meal (used in moderate quantities), are capable 
of producing butter possessing the highest flavor. No 
accurate scientific experiments confirming these opin¬ 
ions are on record; yet there are no logical reasons 
for questioning their correctness. There is another 
class of foods comprising turnips, cabbage, etc.—and 
in this category-may be included garlic, ragweed, 
smartweed, etc. — which contains a volatile oil of 
objectionable taste and odor. When one of these 
materials is fed to cows, this oil is not infrequently 
carried over to the milk and, in churning, is incor¬ 
porated with the butter fat, imparting to the butter 
butter. A prolonged dyspeptic condition, accom¬ 
panied by a general derangement of the system, might 
have an injurious effect upon the flavor of the milk 
and, possibly, upon the butter. 
In the light of recent investigations, it may be safely 
asserted that, under ordinary circumstances of feed 
and care of the cows, the conditions surrounding the 
milk from the time it is drawn until the butter is 
worked, exert a much greater influence on the flavor 
THREE STOOLS OF CRIMSON CLOVER. Fig. 115. 
Seeded August 29, 1894. Life Size, Ap”U 24, 1895. 
and value of the product, than all other factors com¬ 
bined. These conditions include : (1), cleanliness ; (2), 
freedom from contaminating odors, which may in¬ 
juriously affect the milk and butter in two ways— 
first, the odors may be directly absorbed, thus impart¬ 
ing a disagreeable aroma to the milk, cream or butter ; 
second, by the introduction through this impure air, 
of bacteria which may grow and multiply in the milk, 
and produce very distasteful flavors. (3). Keeping 
the milk and cream as free as possible from all bac- 
predominant one. Where a strongly-flavored oil is 
present in the feed of the cow, it seems to be trans¬ 
ferred directly into the milk, as in the case of tur¬ 
nips. In instances where the feed has been fer¬ 
mented, as in the case of ensilage or of musty hay or 
grain, the germs of ferment from the feed seem to 
get into the milk from the atmosphere. Under con¬ 
ditions favorable to them, they set up a similar fer¬ 
mentation in the milk, and produce flavors and odors 
similar to those which characterized the feed. The 
flavor of butter is spoiled from oxidation of the fat in 
the presence of light, or from disintegration of the 
fat and of the small quantity of albuminoids in but¬ 
ter, through the action of micro-organisms, which go 
under the common name of ferments. Those which 
produce a desirable flavor at a given stage of their 
development, are introduced into cream as “fer¬ 
mentation starters.” Preserving agents like common 
salt, and antiseptics like preservitas, glacine, etc., 
are in a measure “fermentation stoppers.” A tem¬ 
perature of 28 degrees Fahr. is also an effectual 
“fermentation stopper;” consequently, butter kept 
at that temperature in a dark room, will not be 
changed or spoiled quickly. ,jas. w. rorertson. 
Canadian Dairy Commissioner. 
Bacteria Rather Than Food. 
1. In the present state of our knowledge or, rather, 
lack of knowledge, most statements must be made as 
opinions, rather than as established facts. From com¬ 
mon experience, it appears that certain foods may in 
fluence the flavor of butter, some favorably, some 
injuriously. Thus, it is easy to get high-flavored 
butter from the milk of cows fed on fresh grass, while 
it is difficult, under ordinary circumstances, to produce 
butter of fine flavor from the milk of cows fed exclu¬ 
sively on Timothy hay. Linseed meal, fed to excess, 
imparts an undesirable flavor to butter. So far as I 
know, no way has been found to control butter flavor 
satisfactorily and completely by food alone. 2. No. 
3. It would probably have an unfavorable influence. 
4 Too much food, in some cases ; food of inferior 
quality, sometimes. 5. It is my belief, taking all known 
facts into consideration, that food has much less direct 
influence upon butter flavor than have bacteria. In 
some of those cases in which food appears to influence 
butter flavor, we may ultimately find that the more 
direct cause is associated with the action of bac¬ 
teria. L. L. VAN SLYKE, 
New York Experiment Station, 
