THE BUTTER INDUSTRY 



CHAPTER I. 



HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BUTTER 

 -INDUSTRY. 



Early History. The art of buttermaking dates back to 

 times immemorial and reference to the use of butter as an 

 article of food and for medical and cosmetic purposes may be 

 found chronicled long before the Christian Era. Benno Martiny, 1 

 in his treatise "Die Milch" and later in his interesting volume 

 concerning the history of the churn, entitled, "Kirne und Girbe," 

 offers a multitude of quotations on buttermaking by the An- 

 cients as far back as 2000 B. C. He makes reference to the 

 Indians of Asia, the Hebrews, the Arabs, the Egyptians, the 

 Greeks, the Romans, the Teutons, etc., as well as to the his- 

 tory of later centuries. 



While the word butter appears in the Scriptures on many 

 occasions and as far back as the book of Genesis 18:8 "And 

 he (Abraham) took butter, and milk and the calf which he 

 had dressed and set it before them" etc., one of the first refer- 

 ences to the making of butter is perhaps that by Solomon in 

 Proverbs 30:33, "Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth 

 butter." In the history of Ancient Greece we find that the 

 Greeks knew how to make butter from milk. Herodot and 

 Hippocrates state that the Thracians made butter from cows' 

 milk. Among the Romans who made great strides in agricul- 

 tural development, cheese appears more popular than butter; 

 however, Plinius refers in several instances to butyrum (butter) 

 as an addition to bread. 



The oldest equipment for buttermaking was constructed 

 of earthenware. Originally the milk was placed in earthen ves- 

 sels and beaten with the hands until the butter granules formed. 

 Later a wooden stirring stick terminating at its lower end in 



1 Benno Martiny, Die Milch, ihr Wesen und ihre Verwertungr. Vo. I, 1871. 



