HIXDRAXCES TO SUCCESSFUL FAR:\IIXG. 101 



any length. While corn meal, with good hay, is the staple 

 for butter, l)right corn stalks and Avhcat bran form desiralilc 

 portions of the feed ; roots act as alteratives ; and to kcei) the 

 digestive organs in good condition, cotton-seed meal and 

 ensilage may be fed in moderate quantities. But the good 

 dairyman must exercise eternal vijjilance to see that his cows 

 eat nothing which may give an '' oft'" taste to the Ijutter. 



There is still a dilference of opinion as to the best method 

 of setting the milk, — in old-fashioned, round pans, large 

 square shallow pans, or submerged in creamers. This last 

 method has the very great advantages of lessening the labor 

 of handling, and of keeping the milk free from dust or oll'en- 

 sivc odors, which milk so readily absorbs, and which are 

 sure to make themselves manifest in the butter. Thorough 

 cleanliness is the underlying principle in butter making ; as 

 much as possible in the stable, and entirely so when the milk 

 reaches the house, where it must in all its manipulations be 

 kept especially free from any foul smells, such as come from 

 kitchen cookery, tobacco smoking, nasty boots and clothes, 

 and rank vegetables. Skimming, churning, working and 

 packing should be thoroughly performed. Especial atten- 

 tion should be paid to the importance of skilfully salting the 

 butter, neglect of which, more than almost anything else, 

 impairs the taste and the texture of the butter, bringing it 

 down from fifty-five to twenty-five cents per pound. The 

 best butter salt, free from masfnesia, soda and other matters 

 found in impure salt, should be used, and should be made as 

 fine as flour. The best way is to grind it in a mortar with a 

 pestle. It then is thoroughly dissolved and spreads through 

 every part of the butter, flavoring it equally, and from the 

 affinity of the salt for the moisture in the butter, every infini- 

 tesimal particle of salt takes an atom of water, which is 

 diflused invisibly through the mass, making it of a uniform, 

 dry, fine texture, while with good salt as usually put in there 

 are innumerable undissolved crystals of salt and glol)ules of 

 water everywhere to be seen, which aftect the appearance, 

 the taste, and very speedily and eflectually the keeping qual- 

 ity. The microscope shows this diflerence in a wonderful 

 manner. 



There has been much fine poetry as well as prose spent on 



