106 Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the 



THE LAW, THE PENALTY, THE BUTTERMAKER. 



JOPIN W. DECKER, PROFESSOR OF DAIRYING, OHIO STATE 

 UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO. 



Law is that which is set or fixed — certain principles which 

 are fixed because they are right or true : our deviation therefrom 

 is a violation of law ; and the violator is a sinner. 



A penalty is a fine imposed upon person or property for 

 the violation of law. Law knows no excuses, but invariably 

 exacts its penalties for infraction of the law. Ignorance is no 

 excuse; the law acts just the same and imposes the penalty upon 

 the sinner. 



There are certain laws governing the production of good 

 butter. If the sinner of a buttermaker does not know these 

 laws, it is useless to offer excuses, for the penalty of inferior 

 or bad butter is the penalty that is sure to be applied. It is the 

 ])usiness of the buttermaker first to know these laws and second 

 to act therein. The penalty is alike for the buttermaker who 

 docs not know the law and for the one who knows it but docs 

 not observe it. In either case he is a lawless buttermaker. 



The laws on certain subjects are numerous, working in a 

 complex way. It is necessary that they be codified and anno- 

 tated so that one may readily know when the law applies in the 

 case. Our Experiment stations and Dairy schools have been 

 codifying and annotating these laws — they haven't completed the 

 job yet; but we may know better now than we used to know 

 what these laws are and their relations to each other. It is my 

 ])urpose here to point out in a general way what some of these 

 laws are. 



Butter is a commercial article made principally from cow's 

 milk. It consists of fat, water, salt and some casein, milk, 

 sugar, etc. Good butter has a pleasing taste and aroma, is close 

 of texture and the grain, when broken, is not greasy but re- 

 sembles steel. It is also firm to the touch or has, as we term it. 

 good body. 



How do we observe the laws of butter making to get such 

 a product? It will be necessary for us to go back to the milk, 

 or even farther tlian that, to the feed that the cow eats. 



