CURING BUTTER IN THIS COUNTRY AND A15K0AI). 197 



very nearly approaching;' to this point, whicli takes such a strong 

 hold on the ap])etite; tliat whicli is imperfect in consistency 

 and liavour is as nnich (U'spised as its opposite is prized. The 

 "firsts" of tlie Irish, the "^ilt-edged" of the Americans, tlie 

 Danish "estates," and tlie hest Swedish, Dutch, French, and 

 home hutters have such a relatively hii^h market value compared 

 with the other extreme in the scale, that no further evidence is 

 required of the difference existing in the minds of consumers 

 hetween really good and really bad butter. And as almost every 

 family either makes or buys butter, it might be presumed that 

 the j)roductiou of an article of such general use would l)e under- 

 stood to perfection, and that nothing but that at least approach- 

 ing a first-class character would leave the place of manufacture. 

 Nevertheless, perfection is much more an exception than the 

 rule; and the reason is not so much the want of care as the in- 

 tricacies inherent in and surrounding the art of butter making. 

 Success in it depends on a variety of circumstances — any one of 

 which being unfavoural)le — and on a succession of little acts 

 and processes — any one of which being imperfectly performed — 

 may, and almost certainly will, alter the character of the butter. 

 And, without a more perfect scientific knowledge of the pro- 

 perties of milk — the changes occurring in it and the causes 

 which produce them — it is probable that some time may yet 

 elapse before even the greatest care will produce uniformly good 

 butter. 



In referring briefly to some of the circumstances affecting the 

 manufacture of butter, the influence of the l)reed of the cow is 

 worthy of notice. The Channel islander has large milk globules 

 of a pretty uniform size and with a very delicate covering, thus 

 indicating easy churning and a strong and unbroken grain in 

 the butter. Devons come next in this important particular, 

 then the old Holderness ; while the Ayrshire, Shorthorn, and 

 Dutch cows ha\'e snudlcr and more imequal globules, and co\-ered 

 with a much tougher membranous material. It is readily seen 

 that in the milk of the latter breeds, churning will be prolonged, 

 and that some of the butter enveloped in the smaller glol)ules 

 will never be obtained at all. In an experiment made by Dr 

 Sturtcivant with the milk of two Jersey and two Ayrshire cows, 

 the globules of the former averaged in the one cow's milk 5^o» 

 in the other j^-t^^q of an inch; those of the latter -;^j^q and ^qo, 

 showing that there was not a great difference in the size either 

 in the milk of cows of the different breeds or in different animals 

 of either breed. The cream from the Ayrshires took 20 and 

 25 minutes respectively to churn, that of the Jerseys only 

 3 and 8 minutes ; thus proving that the pellicle of the butter 

 globide of the latter was in churning much easier broken. The 

 Ayrshires from new milk only gave part of the butter at 15 



t^ 



