BUTTER SCORING 463 



the tub or cube, or from end to end in the case of the print. 

 First the aroma is observed by passing the trier under the nose. 

 Then the butter is tasted for flavor and salt by cutting with a 

 clean knife or spatula, a small piece off the plug. Then the plug 

 is examined for uniformity of color. The texture and body are 

 examined for leakiness, crumbliness, stickiness and weak body. 

 In the case of crumbly and sticky butter it is difficult to secure 

 a solid plug, the plug is ragged and irregular and butter sticks 

 to the back of the trier. In the case of leaky butter the brine 

 runs freely, and in large drops, from the butter. A weak body 

 refers to butter with a poor grain; when the plug is broken the 

 surface at the break resembles that of a tallow candle and the 

 butter gives the impression of salviness. The color of such 

 butter generally lacks brightness and life, it is dull. 



The Ethics of Butter Scoring. It must be obvious to all 

 who are interested in the dignity and standard of excellence of 

 the butter industry that the sanitary and ethical aspect of butter 

 scoring demands, that this work be done in a neat, cleanly and 

 careful manner, and yet so many so-called butter judges ignore 

 the most primitive dictates of decency in the scoring of butter. 

 They do this work in slovenly manner, they pay no attention 

 to the cleanliness of their hands, they fail to wipe the trier 

 clean before it is inserted in the butter, they try to ascertain 

 the aroma by rubbing their nose into and wiping it on the butter, 

 they determine the flavor by digging their teeth into a plug, 

 and then replace this mutilated and desecrated butter into the 

 package which is later offered for sale and consumption. Such 

 performances are an insult to the dignity of the butter industry 

 and a depredation to this most valuable and wholesome of food, 

 butter. Nor do such practices denote expertness on the part 

 of the judge. The flavor and aroma of butter are of delicate 

 nature, their correct impression on the senses demands subtle 

 and delicate handling. Pressing one's nose into the butter 

 destroys the delicacy of flavor and aroma and dulls the senses. 

 There is room for much improvement, especially in the cellars 

 of the wholesale produce, in the ethics of butter scoring as now 

 done, and this improvement will assist in convincing the laymen 

 of the wholesomeness and superiot virtues of butter as a food 

 which the dairy interests claim for their product. 



