The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-04-06
DAIRY NOTES.


 The practice of stripping a COW between finger and thumb is bad one. The COW to do her best should be milked rapidly and completely. The practice of nearly milking a COW, and then changing off to one hand, and stripping about, is objec- tlonable, and the COW soon gets to like the stripping business and gives down her milk accordingly. The going back and milking the COW a second time 1t fully as bad, and she soon is at a loss to know at which time the milk is wanted, and the result Is she quickly enters the non-pay- ing class. Sit down to the cow, and go resolutely to work, milk fast, and until she is milked out clean, and then stop. When milking, do so with a uniform and steady motion, and do not jerk and pull as if streams of milk were shoe faces.
 Keeping Tab on Cows. One of the best practical Connecticut dairy herds is that owned by Daniels Brothers a Middletown. During the past 1 four years the herd has been gradually increased from twenty-five to seventy head The average milk record during | 1905 was almost exactly six thousand pounds per head, certainly remarkable record for so numberous herd. Some | of the cattle were raised at the farm, but | a great many were bought in the neigh borhood the owners being always on the 1 lookout for a good COW at a satisfactory price. The cows are not of the class which gave thin milk, but include many ter | seys and other rich milkers.
 | A valuable feature of the system IS a | careful record kept of each COW so that the owner knows at the end of the year | the actual work done by each animal. The l cost of keeping this record is placed at | only thirty cents per COW per year ana the following points are made by Messrs. Daniels in favor of the pain;
 1 It tells how to feed dairy nerd eco nomically.
 work being accomplished by the indiVlo- | ual COW.
 How to select our cows, either to pur- | chase or to raise
 That there is & dairy type and one must have the type if he expects satis-
 factory performance.
 What price one can afford 10 pay TOT 1 the right type.
 Creates interest in your work, In your
 self your boys, and your hired men.
 Rlpening Cream.
 This is the most important, and at the | same time the most difficult, step In the i art of making butter. Both the haFof oi | the butter and the thoroughness or
 churning depend upon the manner Ill | which the cream is ripened
 | Ripening is caused by the action or | l the milk sugar Through them also are | generated and formed volatile substances, | which mpart odor and flavor 10 butter' | hut just what these flavor and odor-im- | parting substances are we do not Kno" l definitely. The number of bacteria Ill 1 ripened cream is beyond comprenension. | In specimens of cream two days ola as | many as one hundred thousand bacteria l have been found in single drop, even | under conditions not particularly favor- | able to their growth. In cream the Wprk l of bacteria is lower than in milk, be- cause there is only a small amount or | sugar. casein and albumen left. and con | sequently the germs have less food 10 | live on. and they cannot live on fat alone. l There are three reasons for ripening cream. First to get flavor In butter; | second. to secure thorough churning; | third. to improve the keeping quality. | The first reason Is sound. It Is impos- | sible to get the fine nutty flavor except | from ripened cream. The second reason 1 given is also sound, but there IS some l doubt about the third. Some experi-
 ments seem to show that sweet cream l hutter keeps the best, while others indi- | cate that ripened cream butter keeps l best. Where both are well made there | Ia probably not much difference. The | hest temperature in which to rlpen cream 1 depends upon the season. temperature of | | perature causes more rapid ripening than low temperature. consequently it Is raised or lowered as rapid or slow ripening Is desired In the summer cream Is usually ripened at lower temperature than in
 winter. In general, 1t may be said that the best temperature at which to ripen cream is 56 to 5S degrees in summer. and 50 to 64 degrees in winter.
 Should be Stirred.
 The cream should be frequently stirred while ripening, for two reasons: First, to maintain an even temperature; second, to prevent the surface from thckening If the temperature is not uniform the warm CT parts rpen faster. and the result will be an extra loss of fat in the buttermilk This loss occurs because the best tenn perature for churning ripe cream is not suitable for cream that is not ripe. and if the cream is unevenly ripened it is inn possible to secure temperature that is allowed to stand without stirring, the richer parts will rise to the surface, and | the upper inch or two becomes thick being exposed to air. moisture evaporates and clots of cream form. Sometimes cream will not ripen of itself in time for