PRODUCTS OF THE DAIRY. 255 



To make it may not be the unpardonable sin ; but it is a fault 

 exceedingly, difificult to forgive or forget. If the guilty in this 

 respect could swelter, for a reasonable length of time, in a lake 

 composed of the filthy stuff, though it would be a severe dispen- 

 sation, it would probably in the end cure them of making, vend- 

 ing or furnishing the nuisance. 



Good butter, on the other hand, is one of the institutions of 

 society which commends itself to our careful consideration. 

 Accurately defined, it is "an unctuous substance made by agi- 

 tating the cream of milk till the oil separates from the whey." 

 "An oily substance obtained from cream or milk by churning." 

 In other words, it is the result of agitation applied to the right 

 kind of materials. When Mr. Hunnybun, one of the Hunny- 

 buns, said " if the sea were cream my boots would be full of 

 butter, for I have been churning all day," his remark contained 

 at least this lesson for agitators, viz: that it is of very little use 

 to agitate unless we have the right kind of materials to set in 

 commotion. Now when we get a churnful of cream, unless 

 some law of nature fails, we can agitate to some purpose. How 

 little do most of the simple-hearted butter eaters know of the 

 labors and luxuries of this department of life ! There may be 

 the sweat of the brow, but there is also the flush of victory! 

 However unintellectual the exercise may appear, it generally 

 affords a practical illustration of the maxim that " in the end 

 ye shall prevail, if ye faint not." 



Churning, however, is not the whole of butter. The oily, 

 unctuous substance is indeed separated by agitation. The next 

 thing to be done is to discipline it — that is, the whey must be 

 all extracted, the proper quantity of salt applied, and, unless 

 the butter is to be used immediately, it should be placed in 

 casks or other vessels, neat and clean, from which no unpleasant 

 taste can be communicated to the butter. 



To make good butter certain elements are generally essential 

 — good cows, good feed, good salt, a good churn, and a good« 

 woman. As a general rule, the possession of the last item will 

 go far towards insuring the first four. 



A woman, the mistress of a dairy, who looks upon life as the 

 field in which to glean for others and to fit herself for immor- 

 tality, whose ambition it is, in quiet, unassuming industry, to 

 do the duty nearest to her, is an object of admiration. She is 



