282 STATE BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



handling of milk. The cow sliould be kindly treated, and milked at regular 

 intervals by the same person, who should enter upon his or her duties with 

 hands not soiled with the filth of the stable, but scrupulously clean. Tin pails 

 are preferable to wood, as it is very difficult and almost impossible to cleanse 

 wooden pails so perfectly that they will not impart some degree of acidity to 

 the milk. 



Now we have the milk. We will take it to the dairy room, strain it, and set 

 the pans, not on shelves but racks, so the air may circulate freely under as 

 well as over and around them. The milk should be kept cool in summer, 

 never being allowed to reacli a temperature above 60°, though it may fall 

 below that without detriment. The advantage gained during the hot season by 

 the rapid and complete cooling of the milk as soon as it comes from the cow 

 can hardly be overestimated. Experiments show that milk thus cooled keeps 

 sweet much longer and yields its cream more readily and abundantly; and 

 experience has proved that the quantity of butter depends greatly upon keep- 

 ing the milk in such a state as to secure all the cream ; and a saving of labor 

 is also effected by this process, as the milk, when cooled to the right tempera- 

 ture, can be set in deeper vessels, thus diminishing the number used, conse- 

 quently the labor of cleansing them. There are many methods more or less 

 simple for cooling milk aside from the patent coolers. Perhaps the simplest 

 one within the reach of every one is a box partly filled with cold water, with 

 pails set in to receive the milk as soon as drawn from the cow, and letting it 

 stand until of the required temperature. 



Much of the success of butter making depends upon the fitness of the room 

 where the milk and cream is kept, and upon its condition as to cleanliness and 

 freedom from taints and odors of every description. If a cellar is used it 

 should be dry, quite light, with a free circulation of air, and clean to the 

 remotest corners, with no remnants of decayed fruit, vegetables, or anything 

 possible to give it a taint. If a milk-house is built, which is, perhaps, better, 

 it should not be situated near the hog pen or stable, nor should anything be 

 allowed in it that would be likely to impart its odor to the milk ; for nothing 

 receives a taint more easily than milk or cream, and all bad odors absorbed by 

 the milk are sure to be concentrated in the butter, and they will not be accom- 

 modating enough to run off in the buttermilk, either. We have the milk set, 

 the cream raised, and will next proceed to the skimming, which should be 

 done as soon as the cream has all risen, and before the milk has become too 

 sour. The time for the cream to raise, of course, depends upon the tempera- 

 ture. The time it should be removed is when it has a rich, yellow, uniform 

 color, and such an adherency of particles as will enable one to remove the 

 entire cream with one dip of the skimmer. If allowed to remain too long on 

 the milk, both quantity and quality will be seriously affected ; the surface will 

 become discolored, while underneath it is rapidly yielding to the corrosive ten- 

 dency of the acid in the milk. Cream, for the same reason, should not be 

 kept too long after being removed before churning, which is the most 

 laborious part of the work if done by hand; therefore, we should be careful to 

 have the cream of the right temperature, about 60 or 62*. An experienced 

 person may guess at this with tolerable correctness, but it is better to use a 

 thermometer and be sure, as a mistake may tax a person's strength and 

 patience, equal to the cost of a dozen thermometers ; the churning should be 

 done steadily and ceased as soon as the butter is well gathered. 1 am not in 

 favor of coloring butter; I consider it a cheat and a fraud, but if it should be 

 resorted to, the color should be put in the cream, then the butter will be of a 



