DAIRY CONFERENCE. 61 



flavor. Repeated washings wash out or tone down a measure of 

 the flavor it is desirable to retain. One washing after the butter- 

 milk is properl}^ drawn from underneath and out of these granules 

 of butter, will effectually remove the remaining buttermilk, provided 

 that the butter is sufficiently hard, and in the subsequent working 

 ot the butter not much of the buttermilk coloring will be found in 

 the water which is forced out from among the granules of butter. 



Question. What is the benefit of washing even once? 



Sec Gilbert. It is the easiest way to get the last of the butter- 

 milk out of the butter. It can be done without this washing, but the 

 washing is the easiest way to do it, the quickest way to do it and the 

 least liable to cause injury. This theory of washing away the flavor 

 of the butter is questioned by some. An expert taster however of 

 butter will readily distinguish the difference between that which is 

 simply washed once and that which is overwashed, or between that 

 which is not washed at all and that which is washed once. 



Next we come to the salting. Salt is really an artificial adjunct 

 to butter, and there is only one general rule in regard to the matter, 

 and that is, to salt to suit the demands of the market. The scale 

 of points in judging butter gives the salting a prominent place. I 

 hardly know why that should be done, for the salting is simply a 

 variable matter that is adjusted to suit the demands of the market. 

 In the commission houses in Boston at the present time, one ounce 

 to a pound of butter is called for* and will best suit the general 

 market. There a great many customers who call for a fresher 

 butter ; there are still some customers who call for a salter butter 

 than that. Butter salted for testing at exhibitions is usually very 

 lightly salted, because when you take butter clear the saltness isi 

 brought out more prominently than it is when eaten at table. Yon, 

 can better get at the comparative flavors at fairs when it is slightly- 

 salted instead of being salted according to the requirements of the, 

 market. 



Question. lu putting in an ounce to the pound in what condition, 

 is the butter when it is weighed. 



Sec. Gilbert. Put in as many ounces of salt as there is of 

 butter when it is in the granular state. 



Question. Does it not really require judgment? 



Sec. Gilbert. There is a point of judgment that comes in ; and 

 it is always found that one element in these processes is to judge 

 when the proper conditions have been reached. There is always a 

 matter of judgment required. 



