TO MAKE GOOD BUTTER. 269 



or the milk of a particular cow ; whether all the milk is taken 

 or only the last strippings. Such experiments can be but little 

 relied upon. We can arrive at no satisfactory result unless the 

 tests are made with care, and when reported, it should be done 

 minutely and correctly. 



For many years I have followed cheese making, considering 

 it the best way to dispose of my milk, but during the past year 

 I have turned my attention to the making of butter, and, dur- 

 ing every month, I have given my personal attention, to the 

 making of many careful trials and noting minutely the results. 

 Although it is easier to make butter in some parts of the year 

 than in others, yet it is generally thought that a prime article can- 

 not be made in winter. I have satisfactorily proved that this is 

 not so, provided the following conditions are complied with : 

 1st, We must have good butter making cows. 2d, they must 

 be fed upon such food as shall enable them to produce a rich 

 quality of milk. 3d, this milk must be set, and kept at the 

 right temperature, and skimmed at the proper time. 4th, the 

 cream must be churned when new, not forgetting also that for 

 churning a certain temperature is required to obtain the best 

 butter. 



To follow butter making successfully through the entire 

 summer, requires the utmost skill and judgment. Where this 

 branch of dairying is to be followed, a proper place to set the 

 milk should be provided. This room may be situated above 

 ground, and having, if possible, three of its sides exposed to 

 the air, in order that we may the better control the heat and 

 cold, by proper means of ventilation. As a matter of course 

 everything must be kept clean and neat about the surroundings. 

 It should be double boarded, and well plastered within, in order 

 that sudden changes in the weather may not be as quickly com- 

 municated to the milk. A piazza of sufficient depth, to keep 

 the sun from striking the sides of the building, would be a 

 desirable addition. With every precaution which I can adopt, 

 I have been unable, in hot days, to keep the milk sweet long 

 enough to obtain all the cream. 



In order to overcome this difficulty " milk coolers " of dif- 

 ferent styles have been devised. At the New York State Fair, 

 which I had the pleasure of attending last autumn, I noticed 

 several of these on exhibition, accompanying each of which 



