The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
I I I I 
1 
Use of Lactometer 
AVill you tell us how to Use a lacto¬ 
meter? A friend recently sent us one, 
hut we do not know how to use it. We I 
have tested our milk several times and 
find it registers around 1 What does 
this mean? Can one compute hutterfnt 
in milk with lactometer, and how? 
Virginia. DAIRYMAN. 
A lactometer is a form of hydrometer 
made especially for taking the specific 
gravity of milk. There are two forms in 
common use, namely, tie- Quevonne and 
the New York Board of Health. The 
instrument which you have is the latter, 
or B. of IT., as it is called in abbrevia¬ 
tion. 
On the B. of II. lactometer the scale 
extends from zero to 120. The zero point 
is at the top of the stem at the mark to 
which the instrument will sink in water 
at 00 degrees F. When the instrument 
is floated in cleanly skimmed milk the 
surface of the liquid would he near the 
120 mhrk; 100 marks the point below 
which the instrument is never expected 
to settle in pure milk. To correct the 
reading on the B. of IT. to 00 degrees F. 
subtract .3 for each degree below 00 de¬ 
grees F. and add .3 for each degree in 
temperature above (10 degrees F. Normal 
milk may vary on the Ik of IT. between 
103 and 115, and in some few eases milk 
may read as low as 100 or as high as 
118. One cannot compute butterfat with 
the lactometer. The Babcock test must 
he employed for the determination of fat. 
Adulteration can only be indicated by the 
use of the lactometer alone. The lacto¬ 
meter and the fat test give reliable in¬ 
formation for detection of adulteration. 
The lactometer, however, alone will only 
show in a general way how nearly nor¬ 
mal the milk is. The following rules may 
be of value in using the lactometer: 
1. Milk should be an hour or two old 
before using lactometer. 
2. Have instrument clean and lower it 
slowly into milk until it floats. 
3. Let stand for half a minute before 
reading. 
4. Read to the level of milk on instru¬ 
ment. When water has been added the 
reading will be lower than normal. When 
fat has been removed the reading will be 
higher than normal. J. w. n. 
Oily Butter 
•Why is the butter 1 churn now so oily? 
We have purebred llolsteins, all regis¬ 
tered cows of the best there is, and we 
feed browu middlings, corn and oat chop 
mixed. They have salt whenever they 
wish, and lots of good drinking water. 
The butter is so oily and soft I can 
hardly do anything with it. Our cellar 
is quite cool. Is there anything we could 
feed or not feed so the butter would get 
firm? > J.C. 
Pennsylvania. 
Your main difficulty lies in the fact 
that tlie temperature of your cream is too 
high at churning time. During the Hum¬ 
mer season this temperature should be 
from 52 to 5f> degrees F. A good dairy 
thermometer will tell you whether or not 
your cellar is a cool enough place iu 
which to hold the cream. If not, it may 
become necessary for you to use a small 
amount of ice with which to cool down 
the cream. The cream should he cooled 
down to churning temperature about 
three hours before churning, as thvi 
length of time is required for the fat to 
become thoroughly cooled and hardened. 
Cottonseed oil meal in the ration will 
help harden the fat to some extent. Ibis 
may he fed at the rate of not more than 
3 liis. per da y per cow. w - B - 
Curdled Milk 
What would cause sweet milk to curdle? 
This milk was milked in the morning, 
cooled to the temperature of running 
water, and bottled. After dinner, upon 
heating, it curdled, and the next morning 
was curdled in the bottle, although still 
sweet. Would setting in the sun for halt 
an hour or so cause the milk to act in 
this way? F - v - 
Concord. Mass. 
There arc certain types of bacteria 
which produce a substance in milk which 
acts much the same ns rennet. The milk 
in sm’li cases will curdle without souring. 
Heating will hasten such coagulation. 
This type of curdling is known as “sweet 
curdling." Such fermentation should not 
appear as a regular thing. On the other 
hand, if the sample of milk is several 
hours old before being heated, coagulation 
may occur due to ordinary lactic acid 
which has been produced in the milk l>\ 
bacteria which got iu at milking time, or 
from utensils which were not sterile. The 
heating would cause the precipitation of 
the curd in the presence of the weak 
acid, and might even cause the albumin 
to he coagulated. Seemingly sweet milk 
has been known to stick to the sides of 
vats and coils during pasteurization. 
Acidity of 30 and 35 per Cent will cause 
such curdling in milk when heated, but 
the same milk at cold temperature may 
appear to be sweet, Such acidity and 
resultant coagulation is due to the de¬ 
velopment of lactic add in ordinary milk. 
Tf the milk is produced under clean con 
ditious and is cooled immediately after 
milking and kept cold ( below 50 deg. F.l 
until used, you should have no trouble 
with curdling when it is boiled. Cheek 
your cooling temperature with a good 
dairy thermometer, and do not expose 
the cooled milk to the direct rays of a 
hot Summer sun. J. w. n. 
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20 Extra Quarts of Milk 
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