FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 57 



as good as cieainery butter? And^ provided we do, cau we find sale for 

 it at the highest market price? To these questions should be added the 

 brief but pointed one. And if not, why not? 



My reply to the first question would be, "That depends." If you de- 

 pend upon the shallow pan method of raising cream 



YOU CANNOT AVOID A LOSS 



of butter fat much greater than under creamery conditions. In our own 

 work, with conditions more favorable than those usually obtaining upon 

 the fanu, our loss of butter fat in the skim milk has been nearly seven- 

 tenths of a ])ound for every hundred pounds of milk, or about one-fifth 

 of the total butter fat. The loss under usual farm conditions, as indi- 

 cated by a test bj^ us of some twenty-seven samples collected by us among 

 farmers of Ingham county, is fully one pound of butrter for every hun- 

 dred pounds of milk or between one-third and one-fourth of the total 

 butter fat. The argument for shallow pans is that they are inexpensive; 

 but if it were generally known that they are used at an (^xjiense of at 

 least one-fifth of the butter product of the herd they would not be con- 

 sidered so cheaji. If cream is raised by 



COLD DEEP SETTING, 



ice must be used in order to get the best results. The colder the water 

 in which the milk is set the more complete the separation. With the 

 water at a temperature of 30 degrees we have been able to reduce the 

 loss in the skim milk to one-fifth of a pound per hundred pounds of milk 

 while the milk set at from 50 to GO degrees contained over four-fifths of 

 a pound of fat per hundred pounds of milk. With a herd of ten good cows 



A HAND SEPARATOR 



would prove a profitable investment. The loss of butter fat in the skim 

 milk need never exceed onefifth of a pound per hundred pounds of milk 

 and should be less than half that amount. 



With reference to the question relating to the quality of butter, I 

 would answer unhesitatingly^ "Yes, as good butter can be made at home 

 as in a creamery." But the fact still remains that by far the greater 

 part of the butter made on the farm is of such an inferior quality that 

 it does not bring a price sufficient to pay for the food of the cow produc- 

 ing it. 



If the kind of butter is to be made which finds sale at the highest 

 market price^ the utmost care must be taken in every detail of the work. 

 Only wholesome food should be fed the cows, the milking should be 

 done in a cleanly manner, and the milk carried from the barn as soon as 

 possible after milking, and strained through a suitable cloth strainer. 

 It should be set in a cool room where the atmosphere is pure, or better 

 yet, in deep settings where ice is used. 



MORE MISTAKES ARE MADE IN HANDLING CREAM 



than in any other of the various operations connected with butter mak- 

 ing. The condition of the cream as regards ripeness must be under con- 



s 



