DAIRY PRODUCTS. 273 



soured, and churned before the cream is sour; when skimmed 

 and placed in the pot with other cream, well stirred to prevent 

 white specks and streaks in the butter; worked with clap 

 sticks or ladles, salted with four ounces of salt to five pounds 

 of butter, and after standing in a cool place covered from 

 the air twenty-four hours, again worked with clap sticks ; 

 this process repeated, and the butter kept covered with a 

 cloth, and preserved from the air, or placed in stone jars cov- 

 ered closely. 



One of the competitors skims his milk twice a day ; another 

 uses Thatcher's clarified salt, and a third works three times and 

 adds salt each time. The amount of salt recommended varies 

 from four ounces to five pounds, to one and one-quarter ounces 

 to a pound. 



In the manufacture of butter, where the conditions are so 

 complicated and variable, much must be left to the judgment 

 of the producer ; but this is no reason why statements accom- 

 panying samples of butter offered for premium should leave 

 every thing to the judgment, and give no information which 

 is not already well known to all who have had any experi- 

 ence in the matter. It is with much regret that the com- 

 mittee find themselves unable to speak in very high terms 

 of the usefulness of the statements which accompany the 

 samples of butter submitted for their examination. They 

 comply with the letter, but not the spirit, of the society's 

 requirements. They fail to give that information which would 

 enable all who have good judgment and are favorably situ- 

 ated, to make good butter. The business of butter making 

 is too generally a hap-hazard affair ; and the best way to 

 disseminate the knowledge necessary to establish some degree 

 of scientific accuracy where accident seems to reign, is by 

 means of detailed reports of those who offer their products 

 for premium. 



In order to aid, if possible, in attaining that completeness 

 which is so desirable in" the statements of those who excel in 

 making good butter, and who undertake to make their art 

 intelligible to others less skilled, the committee beg leave to 

 make some suggestions as to the points which should occupy 

 the attention of the butter maker. 



35 



