The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-11-03

was based on quantity only, which
naturally left the way open for dis
| honesty.
The creamery system would have
died then and there but for the inven.
ton of the oil test churn, machine by
the use of which the percentage of
butter fat in the cream of each patron
| was determined Thereafter payment
was based on quality as we'll as guam
! tity and the business took on new life
and growth. But still the loss of one.
third of the butter fat continued Only
about two-thirds of the butter actually
latent in the milk was utilized, while
the lack of control over the milk from
which the cream was obtained rendered
uniform quality difficult.
At this time, or about 1885, a Swed-
ish inventor. De Laval perfected, and
put on the market his cream separator,
a machine which separated the cream
from the fresh milk instantaneously by
| rapid centrifugal motion, the principal
of the machine being that milk con-
tinuously run into hollow cylinder or
bowl which was revolved at 5000 to
| 5000 revolutions a minute. The ex-
tremely rapid motion caused the
heavier PARTICLES of the milk to seek
the circumference of the bowl, while
the lightest particles, consisting OF the
butter fat, gravitated to the center.
| Properly placed tubes then removed
both cream and skim milk in contlnu
GUS streams. The invention of the
cream separator was the greatest ever
made connected with the manufacture
of butter, and one of the geatest in any
line of industry. 1t released and
utilized at once SO per cent of the fat
in the milk, increasing the previous
butter capacity of milk nearly 30 per
cent. The aggregate of this saving is
enormous, amounting to millions OF
dollars annually in the butter produc-
| ing countries of the world. The cream
separator has since been much i'm
proved upon. The original machines
had a capacity of about 800 pounds of
milk an hour and saved 80 per cent OF
the cream. The best type of separator
now in use handles 1850 to 1000
pounds of milk an hour, extracting
practically, all of the cream that is in
the milk.
| Upon the introduction of the sep
arator, the milk instead of the cream
was hauled to the creamery, thereby
placing the entire process under the
supervision of the creamery operator,
insuring a better and more uniform
product. 1t was now possible to study
the chemistry of butter making and at
tempt to reduce the industry to a
| science.
AS payment for milk was based on
quantity solely; and as milk differs
greatly in quality serious problem
was soon encountered Aside from the
ordinary difference in milk from diff
| ferent herds, the temptation to dilute
was often too strong to be resisted.
| The only means of determining the
relative richness of milk was by chemi-
cal analysis, which was too complex
slow and expensive for practical use
This difficulty was happily overcome
by the invention by Prof. Babcock, of
| the university of Wisconsin, of the So
called Babcock milk tester. a machine
| and process which shows the exact per
centage of butter fat contained in any
sample of milk tested. This machine
will handle from one up to one hun
dred samples at once, depending on its
size, and do the work in five minutes.
This system has been so perfected that
now, instead of making daily tests as
was formerly done, samples of milk
| deliveries of each patron are taken
daily and deposited in jars. one for each
patron, the contents of these jars are
kept sweet indefinitely by the use of
chemicals and test of sample from
each jar at the end of each month
| shows the exact percentage of butter
| fat. contained in the milk of every
patron for that month The exact
| value of all the milk delivered by.every
patron of the creamery is determined
| by the work of an hour or two. Pay
ment is therefore now based not on
quantity of milk, but on the exact
amount of butter fat delivered.
| Other important recent inventions
are the combined churn and butter
worker, a machine which both churns
and works the butter; and the auto.
matte skim milk weigher, which de-
| livers automatically to each patron the
exact quantity of skim milk he is en-
| titled to based on the amount of whole
milk he delivers. This skim milk is
taken home by the patrons and as it is
still sweet and fresh it makes excellent
| food for stock, especially where little
oil meal is combined with it.
| The cream as it comes from the separ.
ator is sweet, and if churned at once
makes as somewhat tasteless butter,
which, while popular in Europe, is not
liked by Americans. To give the
butter the aroma and flavor demanded,
and to enhance its keeping qualities,
the cream is treated to process called
''ripening" which is in reality partial
| fermentation. In the farm dairy this
fermentation. while recognized, was
not scientifically understood or con
trolled 1t was left to guess-work or
chance, which was one of the prime
causes of poor, ''frowy" and rancid
butter. Now the ''lactic ferment" or
"butter bacillus" is understood and
cultivated by every competent butter
maker. The proper fermenting. or SO.
called ripening of the cream, is def
mite chemical process, upon the correct
ness of manipulation of which depends
very largely the quality of the butter
produced.
Much has been published by the press
of the Northwest about the growth and
extent of the dairy business in Mime
sofa. While the benefits to the state
have been incalculable, still it is evil
dent that thousands of Minnesota
farmers do not, as yet, appreciate the
profits that are possible through in
telligent dairying. There are approx
mately 200. 900 cultivated farms in Min.
| w Of fhacn