S96 MODERN FAIlRIEKe 



the churn, by filling it with boiling water -before the 

 cream is put in, and to place it in the warmest part 

 of the house ; but not close by a fire. 



The operation of churning ought to be moderate, 

 equable, and uninterrupted ; for if we stop or relax 

 in our exertions, the butter will go Imch, as it is 

 called ; and if the motion be too quick and violent, 

 the butter will imbibe a veiy disagreeable flavour. 

 This, in some districts of Scotland, is known by the 

 phrase hursting the churn. 



The process for making butter have been va- 

 rious in different ages, and among different nations. 

 The operation of churning is v.ell known ; and we 

 have only to observe, that though churns have been 

 constructed of different forms, they may all be re- 

 duced to two, the vertical and horizontal. The 

 vertical or pump churn, as it is usually named, was 

 probably the first thought of, and is nothing more 

 than a tall wooden vessel, three or four feet high, 

 narrow in proportion to its height, and straiter 

 above than below, having a sort of piston or staff 

 adapted to it, with a perforated head, by moving 

 which up and dov. n with the hands, the cream is 

 agitated, and the butter at length formed. The 

 utensil is sufficiently v»'ell adapted to the operation 

 of making butter on a small scale, where the cream 

 to be churned is the produce of a few c6ws only. 

 But where dairying is managed on the great scale, 

 and the quantity of cream large, the operation per- 

 formed in this way is too tedious and laborious for 

 general use, and methods have been contrived to 

 expedite the process and abridge the labour. This 

 is best done by means of the horizontal, commonly 

 called the barrel-churn, which is a cylindrical vessel, 

 close at both ends, and firmly fixed upon a stand, 

 having a sort of rack or trundle adapted to it within, 

 usually with four blades, and turned by a winch or 

 handle, placed on its axle, passing through the ends 

 of the churn. By this machine, as much cream may 



