122 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



used, it should be placed in this dairy room. The ice-house should 

 be handy, that unnecessary work be avoided. 



The temperature at which milk is to be set is a much mooted 

 question ; sixty degrees or thereabouts is claimed by many as the 

 best, and that cooler setting results in loss of color and flavor. I 

 think I can sa^', without prejudice, that I have seen for several win- 

 ters past, milk set in a cellar at an unvarying temperature of forty 

 degrees, skimmed at forty-eight and sixt}^ hours setting, cream 

 ripened at sixt3'-four degrees, producing as fine grained, nicely 

 flavored butter, as the same dair^' furnished in June, with an even 

 temperature of sixty-two degrees, with the exception of a slight 

 falling off in color, which is accounted for b}^ the difference between 

 winter and summer feed. If set in shallow pans, the milk should 

 remain twent3'-four to thirty-six hours before skimming, and in win- 

 ter longer. A safe rule is to skim while the milk is perfectly sweet. 

 The cream should be kept at an even temperature of from sixty 

 to sixtj'-five degrees, according to the season of the year, stirred 

 two or three times daily, that the ripening may be uniform through- 

 out, and when slightl}^ acid, churned at sixty-two to sixty-four 

 degrees, varying soiuewhat with the breed of cows, their condition, 

 and the season of the year. 



That dairj'man who boasts of accuracy of his forefinger, when 

 dipped in the ripening cream, as an infiiUible indicator of the tem- 

 perature, when a good dairy thermometer costs less than a dollar, is, 

 to say the least, willing to take more risk on the quality of his pro- 

 ducts, than the profits of the business will warrant. 



The work should be systematized from first to last, the skimming 

 done in morning, the churning on stated days, two or three times 

 weekly, and the curing of the ci-eam regulated by time and temper- 

 ature, so as to be in condition for churnuig at the appointed hour. 



With very few exceptions butter falls off in color during fall, 

 winter and spring, and no matter how firm the grain, or delicious 

 the flavor, if it lacks color it goes begging for a market. People 

 have accepted the color of June butter as the standard, and what- 

 ever falls below it, to them is imperfect. Probably not one pound 

 in one hundred of the fancj-, high priced butter, made in the cooler 

 part of the year, but has received additional color at the hands of 

 the maker. Coloring when properly done does not detract from the 

 flavor, texture, or keeping qualities of butter, and so long as the 

 markets demand a butter of nearly as high color in winter as sum- 



