SALTING THE BUTTER 329 



surface to cubic content is similar to that of the coarser flake 

 crystals. 



Quality of Salt. It is important that the salt used for but- 

 termaking be of the very best quality. It should have a high 

 degree of purity both bacteriologically and chemically, it should 

 be of the proper physical consistency and should be protected 

 from influences that jeopardize its bacteriological, chemical and 

 physical fitness for use in the creamery. 



Bacteriological Purity of Butter Salt. It is obvious that 

 the salt should be as free as possible from germ life, lest it 

 become a source of contamination of the butter. The better 

 brands of butter salt on the market come from the salines in 

 practically sterile condition. The latest improved processes 

 through which the brine passes from the time it is pumped from 

 a depth of several thousand feet in the ground, till it is sealed 

 in the paper-lined barrels are such, as largely to eleminate any 

 micro-organisms originally present in the brine, and the hand- 

 ling of the finished salt occurs under conditions highly sanitary 

 and reduces the danger of contamination of the finished product 

 to the minimum. The increasing concentration of the brine 

 during the process and the practically complete absence of mois- 

 ture in the salt when packed, in themselves, are conditions antag- 

 onistic to the life of germs. The heat to which the brine and 

 salt are subjected before and incident to the evaporation and 

 again in the final dryers, is destructive to all germ life and the 

 packing of the salt is done exclusively by machinery and while 

 still hot, thus removing the possibility of recontamination prac- 

 tically entirely. 



Bacteriological analyses of the salt in the sealed barrels have 

 shewn such salt to be either entirely sterile or to contain less 

 than 10 germs per gram. When barrels are opened in the 

 creamery, however, and are left uncovered and exposed to damp- 

 ness and impure air, for a prolonged period of time, as is the 

 case in a great many creameries, the salt becomes damp and 

 often contains large numbers of bacteria, particularly the types 

 of micro-organisms which render the butter rancid and cheesy 

 and possibly moldy. Weigmann 1 reports cases where the up- 



1 Weigmann, Versuche zur Bereitung von Dauerbutter, Milchwlrtschaf t- 

 liches Zentralblatt, Vol. 44, No. 23, p. 364, 1915. 



