528 Bulletin 281. 



If the cup does become so heated, the butter will be likely to spattCi' 

 out when it comes in contact with the metal during agitation. 



The advantages and disadvantages of the Irish inoisture-test may be 

 summed up as follows: 



1. The Irish test outfit is practicable for creamerymen because it 

 is easy to operate, fairly durable, and not over-expensive. 



2. The results are usually higher than those given by the Official 

 method (see page 403). The results are not so high, however, as seri- 

 ously to affect the test for creamery use. 



FARRINGTON BUTTER MOISTURE-TEST 



This test was invented as a result of suggestions made by G. H. 

 Benkendorf, an instructor, and K. L. Hatch, a student, in the Wisconsin 

 Dairy School. It consists of a jacketed iron oven into which steam 

 enters under pressure, which makes it possible to obtain a high tem- 

 perature. The apparatus is really an autoclave. The oven has a drip 

 cock to allow the condensed steam to escape, and which may also be 

 used to regulate the temperature by reducing the pressure. Four 

 flat-bottomed aluminum dishes and a hot pan lifter are furnished with 

 the oven. The oven is made strong enough to stand the pressure from 

 an ordinary boiler. The temperature will vary according to the pres- 

 sure, but with a pressure of 70 to 80 pounds of steam a temperature 

 of 270° F. to 280° F. can be obtained. Any given amount of the sample 

 may be used for the test. The sample is accurately weighed into one 

 of the pans and heated in the oven until the casein in the butter assumes 

 a brown color. This usually takes thirty minutes to an hour, depending 

 on the amount of the sample used. If ten grams of the butter are taken, 

 twenty-five to thirty minutes are sufficient to drive off all moisture. 

 If fifty grams are taken, about an hour is required to complete the 

 drying process. Until perfectly familiar with the length of time required 

 to drive ofE all moisture, one should always heat the sample a second 

 time to make sure that all the moisture is driven off. After the moisture 

 is expelled, the dish is cooled, weighed, and the weight subtracted 

 from the weight of the sample before heating. The loss in weight rep- 

 resents the amount of water driven off. This loss, divided by the weight 

 of sample taken, and the quotient multiplied by 100, gives the per- 

 centage of water in- the sample. 



The results: the writer obtained with this test were higher than those 

 obtained by' the chemical method, and he was not able to reduce them 

 and at the -same time feel confident that the moisture was all expelled 

 from the sample. There were two conditions to which he ascribed the 



