6g YORK SOCIETY. 



is, the oily portion of milk, if it can only Lc completely sepa- 

 rated from the casein, which milk always contains, will keep 

 sweet and nice as easily as lard or any other animal oil, and 

 that too without salt or sugar — but practically it is found to be 

 Tery difficult to free it so completely from the curdy matter, as- 

 to keep well without the addition of salt; yet if proper care is 

 taken, an ounce to the pound is amply sufficient, or even less^ 

 so that the amount necessary to give the butter the proper 

 relish or flavor, secures its safe keeping. The error of most 

 butter makers is, that deeming salt necessary to preserve the 

 butter, they also reckon tliat a little more salt will counteract 

 the bad effects of leaving a little more buttermilk in the butter. 

 Not being able at this time to discuss this point so fully as is 

 desirable, the following remarks from the pen of a practical and 

 scientihc writer, are commended to our dairymen and women r 



"If we examine a given quantity of milk, we shall find it to 

 consist of a mixture of five substances, viz : water, curd, (case- 

 in,) butter, (oil,) sugar, and a small quantity of salts. Milk 

 from various animals, as well as from the same animal when 

 partaking of different kinds of food, varies considerably in the 

 relative proportions of these component parts, though this vari- 

 ation is not very great in animals of the same species. The 

 following table gives about the average composition of cow's 

 milk : 



1,000 ounces of cow's milk contains, of 

 Pure water, about . . . 



Butter, (oily matter,) about . 

 Curd, (casein,) about .... 

 Milk sugar, about .... 

 Mineral salts, (phosphate of lime and magnesia, 



soda, common salt, &c.,) about . , 3i " 



That these substances are mingled rather than chemically 

 united, is proved by the ease with which they arc separated 

 without the aid of chemical agencies. Thus, by careful evapo- 

 ration, we can drive off the whole of the water, leaving the 

 other ingredients in a dry solid mass, with no material change 

 in their composition or properties. The water constitutes 

 about six-sevenths of the whole weight of the milk. 



Set milk in shallow dishes, in a moderately cool place, and 



