394 BUTTER AND CHEESE-MAKING. 



peas, draw or pour off the buttermilk, and pour into the 

 churn a pail of cool water, and thoroughly " gather " by the 

 aid of the " dasher " the butter into a compact mass ; after 

 which remove it to the butter-bowl. It should be again 

 washed until the water is free from the least trace of milki- 

 ness, and then salted. Use the best Ashton salt, and if free 

 from water one-half pound of salt is sufficient for 10 pounds 

 of butter. Common salt should never be used, for it con- 

 tains impurities which injure the butter. The cheapest 

 salt in this case is certainly not the most economical. While 

 the salt is being worked in, if too soft let it stand in a cool 

 place not over three or four hours, then work again and 

 pack. While working, absorb all the moisture from the 

 butter with a sponge covered by a linen cloth, previously 

 moistened in cold water, and continue to work until all the 

 brine is absorbed. No milky brine * should be allowed to 

 remain in the butter, for it decomposes and injures it. 

 During the process of working the temperature of the butter 

 should not be higher than 55 or 58. When it becomes 

 warmer than this it looses its waxy, granular appearance, 

 and becomes sticky and greasy. When the salt is not 

 thoroughly worked in, the butter will have a streaked or 

 marbled appearance. 



Packing. Place no undissolved salt in the bottom of the 



* "We have known those who would not work the brine out of the butter 

 "because," say they, "it will weigh less;" mistaken shrewdness, to gain a 

 penny they lose a pound. That it is necessary to leave brine in the butter to 

 " keep it " is a great mistake. 



