Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-01-12
THE RlPENlNG OF CREAM AND THE
FEEDING OF cows.

Since the discovery Of the special
germs which 80 much affect the various
operations Of the dairy by reason Of
their action upon the milk, the cream
and the butter after Il Il churned, It is to
be feared that too much Significance is
given to these, or rather II may be said
that not enough attention Is paid to the
effect Of other causes, most especially
the influence Of the food In this way. 1t
IL the fashion just now among some
scientists to ignore the influence OF the
foods In every way, In regard to the
quality OF the milk, the quantity and
quality Of the fat In Ii, and also as to the
flavor OF the butter made from IL.
Now we know, taking one extreme
view of this case, that without food We
would get no butter ut all, and that un-
less the food has In IL all the elements OF
perfect milk the butter cannot be look
ed for. Another extreme view Is that
offensive kinds OF foods, such as turuips,
cabb .ge, sour silage, a. well as strongly
favored weeds, certainly do give special
tiavors TO the butter, and these being due
to an oily matter In the plants, the but
ter fat is apt to infuse with itself other
oily matters that may exist In the food
of the COW. This Is well proved by the
known effect Of cottonseed meal on the
butter, which has been found to be so
much influenced by the oil in this food
that on analysis Of the butter shows pre-
cisely the same reaction as the cotton oil
itself does, while il Is well known to
practical experts that the butter made
from either this oil meal or OF linseed
has distinct flavor Of these oils, and
hence these foods are used with great
caution BY the fine butter makers, or are
wholly discarded from their list OF foods.
IL this Is all true, then Tn say that the
degree OF acidity, which Is the result OF
germs, determines the flavor OF the but
ter, Is too strong q statement, and Is cal
culatcd 10 lead butter makers astray by
inducing them TO be careless In their
feeding, the i'll results Of which may be
laid wrongly TO the action Of some kinds
Of germs which the dsiryman has no
effective means Of controlling under the
great majority OF cases.
Doubtless the right degree OF acidity
does govern the flavor OF butter, for II
the cream Is mismanaged In this respect,
whether II be too little or too much acid,
In spite of the best feeding. the flavor
will be defective. OF this there Is no
doubt. and there never has been; for this
is one of the oldest principles OF dairy
work, and the ripening OF the cream Tor
the ehurn has always been the most i'm
por,ant part Of the mere butter making.
But il is only so Of one part Of IL, and IL
alone will not remove the results OF mis-
takes In the feeding. Indeed II should
always be insisted upon, that feeding
comes first In regard TO the character OF
the butter, AS being the basis Of it 10
every way. Then the feeding being
right, The ripening Of the cream Is one OF
the simplest Of matters possible. consist
ing wholly In keeping the cream In pure
air, for thirty-six hours, at temperat-
ure OF 90 degrees. Then the special
germs will have had time and opportun-
!ty 10 put In their fine work, with moth
ing to disturb or prevent the due results
OF il. And these germs are sbundantly
existing 10 the atmosphere, and require
no special care OF the butter maker to
procure them. There Is nothing new or
novel about them, but our better ac-
auaintance with them than heretofore.
They only explain the cause OF facts
always known to expert butter makers.
New England Homestead.