The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-08-27
The Dairy.
GOOD POINTS FOR BUTTER MAKERS.

cellence, ht to compete In the open
market with the creamery product,
seems to be generally disregarded,
or, if not so, considered too difficult
of attainment. This is largely true
through lack of knowledge of details
essential to cce The subject
is most intelligently treated by Prof.
Otis, of the Kansas Agricultural
College in the new Biennial Report
of Secretary F. D. Coburn, of the
Kansas Board of Agriculture.
Extracts from Prof. Otis discus
sion follow:
In the matter of making butter,
the private dairyman can learn a
great deal from his creamery
brother. The latter has made the
subject of butter-making a life study,
and many of the things that he has
discovered can be applied to advan-
tage on the farm. 1t is assumed
that the milk and cream will receive
the best of care previous TO reaching
the cream vat.
High flavor or quick aroma of but
ter is due to the breaking up of the
milk sugar, forming lactic acid, and
is possibly the result of a series of
germs that get into the cream during
the process of ripening (souring). If
cream is churned while sweet con-
siderable butter will be lost in the
buttermilk, and the butter will lack
flavor, no matter what the COWS are
fed. If cream ripens too much we
will get sour butter, or what Prof.
Mckay calls "rotten egg flavor"
Cream ready to be ohurned has a
smooth, granular appearance, with a
rather sharp, acid taste. When
cream reaches this condition, it
should either be churned at once or
cooled down to. about fifty degrees
F., and warmed to fifty-eight or
sixty degrees when churned. So
important is the right amount of
acid, that our best butter-makers
have what is called an acid test for
determining the amount.
To hasten the ripening or get the
right kind of Tactic acid germs, start.
els are some times used to advan-
ts.ge. These may consist either of
butter milk, sour skim milk, or
especially prepared commercial start
ers. Starters on the farm can doubt
less be best procured by using milk
or skim milk. Select a good healthy
COW, put her milk into d we'll scalded
can, and keep at a temperature of
eighty-fve to ninety degrees until it
becomes clabbered. Then use about
one part of starter to nine parts of
cream. The 81 may be kept at a
temperature anywhere from sixty
degrees to seventy-five degrees F., if
care be taken to cool it down as
oon as the right quantity OF Tactic
acid is developed.
If the local market calls for col
ored butter, the coloring matter
should be put into the cream as soon
as the latter enters the churn. The
ideal color for butter is that pro-
duced naturally under June condi-
tions, where the COWS have an album
dance of fresh green grass. At no
time of the year should we attempt
TO give butter any higher color than
this.
Cream should be churned at slow
a temperature as possible and have
the butter come in from one half to
one hour. Warm cream and rapid
churning mea d large quantity of
butter lost in the butter milk, as
we'll as soft butter, which is very
hard to handle after it comes. The
churn should be stopped when the
butter is in Il granular condition,
about one twelfth of an inch in diam
eter. If churned more than this it
will be impossible to get the butter
evenly washed and sailed without
spelling the grain. When a piece of
good butter is broken, it should have
the appearance of broken cast iron,
and not the salvy, greasy-looking
article that we often see at the store.
When the butter granules have
reached the right size the butter
milk should be drained off and the
butter thoroughly washed with pure,
clean water at a temperature of
fifty TO sixty degrees T. This should
be continued until the water coming
from the butter ceases to have a
milky an