Fergus County argus., 1902-04-23
FACTS ABOUT BUTTER.
Why Should We Not Have the Home
Made Product?
(Bozeman Chronicle.)

III is well known tnOuBn ueplOra-
BILE fact that the farmers and dairy.
men of Montana are supplying the
people Of Montana with only a small
amount of the butter that is required.
Hundreds of pounds of creamery but.
ter are shipped from Minnesota or
other standard creameries in order to
supply the market. This is not done
because the grocers who handle 1t
prefer to sell the imported article,
but from the fact that the amount Of
homemade butter brought to market
is only a small per cent of what they
can sell and because in many cases
the ranch butter is an inferior arti.
Gle, and the merchant does not wish
to purchase that which he knows he
cannot dispose of and give satisfac-
tion to his customers.
There Is no good reason why Mon.
tana should not be provided with sew.
eral good creameries and the butter
needed for home use at least be man.
ufactured in the state. But someone
says those creameries which have
been started have not been successful
We say there was something wrong
or they should have been. People
will not buy an inferior article of
creamery butter any more than an in
ferior one of ranch butter, and Ger.
tain amount of care must be used in
making either.
II is not necessary, however, for us
to have creameries in order that we
may have good butter, particularly In
Gallatin county. Butter of the high.
est grade could be produced on the
farms IL proper care is taken of the
milk and cream, and the matter OF
making butter be given study. No
creamery man undertakes to manufac'
ture butter without trying at least
to find out all the details of the pro-
cess, while many Of the farmers OF
farmers wives simply never give the
matter any study, but keep wasting
good material experimenting.
Care and utmost cleanliness are
necessary even In milking the cows
The cans or pans used at any time for
the milk should be thoroughly cleans
ed and aired. The cream itself must
have proper attention as one small
pan Of cream that is over-ripe or bit
ter has spoiled gallons of good cream
A strainer needs thorough cleaning
or 1t will soon spoil every quart Of
milk put through it.
| Prof. Otis of the Kansas Agricul
tural college, in discussion Of the
butter question. makes some sugges
tions that we think may be of some
value to our dairymen, and we make
some quotations from his report to the
Kansas board of agriculture:
High flavor or quick aroma of but
ter is due to the breaking up of tn,
milk sugar, forming Tactic acid, ant
is possibly the result of a series o
germs that get into the cream durinl
the process Of ripening (souring). |
cream is churned while sweet consid
cradle butter will be lost in the but
ter milk, and the butter will lack flay
or. no matter what the cows are fed
IL cream ripens too much we will ge
sour butter, or what Prof. McKa.
calls rotten egg flavor Cream
ready to be churned has smooth
granular appearance. with a rathe
sharp, acid taste. When cream reach
es this condition it should either b.
churned at once or cooled down Il
about fifty degrees F., and warme,
to fifty-eight or sixty degrees whel
churned. So important is the righ
, amount of acid that our best butte
makers have what Is called an aci
test for determining the amount.
ITO hasten the ripening. or to ge
the right Of lactic-acid germs, star,
ers are sometimes used to advantage
They may consist either Of butter
milk. sour SKINNED milk, or especia
ly prepared commercial starters
Starters on the farm can doubtless b
best procured BY using milk or skin
med milk. Select good health
COW, put her milk into well scalde
pan, and keep 1t at temperature @
eighty-five to ninety degrees until
becomes clabbered. Then use abou
one part of starter to nine parts @
cream. The cream may be kept d
a temperature anywhere from sixt
degrees to seventy-five degrees F.,
care be taken to cool it down as 500
as the right quantity of tactic acid !
developed.
If the local market calls for colore
butter the coloring matter should b
put into the cream as soon as the la
ter enters the churn. The ideal colo
for butter is that produced naturall
under June conditions, where tn
cows have an abundance of fres
green grass. At no time of the yea
should we attempt to give butter an
higher color than this.
| Cream should be churned at a
low a temperature as possible an
have the butter come In from one-hal
to one hour. Warm cream and rapi
churning mean a large quantity {