THE DAIRY. 305 



less, always taking the taste for the surest guide. Add no 

 saltpetre, nor other substances. 



7. The best time for churning is the morning, in hot wea- 

 ther, and to keep the butter cool till put down. 



8. The best mode of preserving butter in and through the 

 summer and winter, is as follows : 'The vessel is a stone 

 jar, clean and sweet. The mode of putting it down is to put 

 in a churning of butter, and put on strong brine; let it remain 

 on until the next churning is ready to put down, and so on 

 till the jar is filled ; then cover it over with fine salt, the same 

 to remain on till used. 



Mr. Me Williams of Orange county, the celebrity of whose 

 butter is unsurpassed, thus details his method of butter- 

 making : 



"Our practice is not to churn the milk until it becomes 

 thick or loppered, the milk and cream is then churned toge- 

 ther. The temperature of the milk is about 50 degrees. In 

 warm weather about a quart of cold water is put in each 

 pan before the milk is strained, so as to keep it sweet as long 

 as possible. The cellar-floor is brick. This in warm wea- 

 ther is daily cleansed with cold water. A drain from the 

 cellar carries off the water thus applied. The churn is filled 

 about half full with milk, with the addition of two pails of 

 cold water before starting the churn. In cold weather the 

 same quantity of warm water is applied. When the churn- 

 ing is finished, which usually occupies about two hours of 

 time, there are then two more pails of cold water applied to 

 raise the butter and cool it. The butter is then taken out of 

 the churn and put in a large tray, this is immediately filled 

 with cold water and the butter carefully washed ; after which 

 the water is thrown off. The butter now undergoes the pro- 

 cess of salting, it is then placed in a cool situation where it 

 stands about an hour, and worked carefully over. This 

 finished it is placed in the same situation as before, where it 

 stands three or four hours, and is again worked over ; again 

 replaced for five or six hours, when it is worked over for the 

 third time. It is now replaced, where it stands till the next 

 morning and worked over for the fourth time. A small 

 quantity of nitre is then put in the butter. Thus finished it 

 is placed in firkins holding about 85 Ibs. Previous to pack- 

 ing, the firkin is scalded with hot water, rinsed and cooled 

 with cold water, then rubbed all around with fine salt ; this 

 prevents the butter from adhering to the sides of the firkin. 

 When the firkin is full, a linen cloth is placed over the top of 



