588 



FARMERS' REGISTER— CREAM-CHURNING. 



for the express purpose, on every farm, of con- 

 fining the calves. At regular times, the cows are 

 brought to tlie door of this enclosure, where the 

 young ones liiil not to meet them. Each calf is 

 then separately led out, and runs directly to its 

 mother, where it is allow^ed to suck till the dairy- 

 maid judges that it has had enough; it is then 

 separated, the legs of the mother having been pre- 

 viously shackled, by a very simple contrivance, to 

 oblige her to stand still, and the dairy-maid milks 

 off what was left by the calf They proceed in 

 this manner till the whole of the cows are milked, 

 and thus do they obtain a small quantity of milk, 

 it is true, but that of an exceedingly rich quality; 

 which, in the hands of such as know how to ma- 

 nage it, is manufactured into the richest marrowy 

 butter that can be anywhere met with. This rich- 

 ness ol" the Highland butter has been long remark- 

 ed, and has been universally ascribed to the old 

 grass that the cows feed upon in those remote 

 glens; but it is in fact chiefly to be £tt;ributed to the 

 practice here described, which has long prevailed 

 in those districts. 



Milk consists of three component parts, blend- 

 ed into one, and distinguished as butyraceous, or 

 oily substance, of which butter is composed; 

 caseous matter, from which cheese is formed; and 

 serum, or whey. To separate these is the cliief 

 object of the dairy; and, with regard to butter, 

 two different modes have been adopted: the one, 

 from the cream alone: tlie other, from the »?i;7A; and 

 cream united. The former operation is thus per- 

 formed. 



The milk is carefully skimmed by means of a 

 skimming dish, (if possible without spilling any 

 upon the floor, because it will speedily taint the air 

 of the room,) and the cream poured into a vessel, 

 till enough be obtained for churning. When the 

 cream has been collected, it should be put into a 

 deep covered vessel, lor the action of the air on 

 the surface dries it; and it should be well stin-ed 

 with a sticic or spoon, once or twice a day, until 

 made into butter. Tlie time of keeping depends 

 on the Aveatlier: if the cream from each milking be 

 kept separately, it may remain a week, in most sea- 

 sons, without being injured; but if sweet cream be 

 mixed -with that which is sour, they ferment and 

 soon become putrid. This is partly prevented by 

 the stirring: but it is far better to keep the cream 

 from every milking apart, and thus allow each to 

 become sour of itself, and the contrary practice 

 should never be a.dopted, unless it be intended to 

 churn the moment the whole mass has become 

 acid. 



In different counties there are several variations 

 in the making of this primary article of domestic 

 consumption; and among these, the following is 

 the metliod of preparing it, which is peculiar to 

 the counties of Somerset, Cornwall, and Devon — 

 where it is termed clotted, or clouted cream. The 

 milk, when twenty-ibur hours from the cow, is put 

 into a kettle over a slow fire, which should be Iiot 

 enough to bring it very near to the boiling point in 

 about two hours, and not less. A person (usuall}' 

 a child) is set to watch it; and, the moment a 

 bubble rises to the top, formed by the vapori/ed 

 milk, the whole is taken off, and set to rest for 

 twenty-four hours more. At the end of this time, 

 if the quantity of milk be considerable, the cream 

 will be an inch or more thick upon the surface. It 

 is now divided with a knife into squares of a con- 



venient size, and removed. The milk, remaining 

 after the cream is taken off, contains litile beside 

 the watery particles in its original composition. 

 The dairy-women, in the above mentioned coun- 

 ties, say that milk, thus treated, will yield one- 

 fourth more cream than isproducedin the common 

 way, and that a few strokes of the churn will form 

 such cream into excellent i)utter. At present this 

 cream is chiefly confined to the breakfast table; it 

 is excellent tor use with coffee, but when put into 

 tea, it injures its taste, by being instantly convert- 

 ed partially into butter which rises to the surface: 

 when prepared as above, it will keep somewhat 

 longer than common crean). 



In the neighborhood of Epp'mg, which has long 

 been liimous for the quality of its butter, the fol- 

 lowing is the common process: — the milk, after 

 standing twenty-four hours, is fleeted, or skimmed, 

 and the skimmed milk is drawn off into vessels of 

 an increased depth, v/hich is called doubling. 

 There it remains lor twelve or twenty-four hours 

 more, as the weather permits, during which time, 

 as the cream rises, it is fleeted two or three times. 

 It is tlien trebled, or put into deep tubs, where it 

 is again occasionally skimmed, and kept so long 

 as any appearance of cream is found to form on 

 the surlace. The butter made from these after- 

 fleetings is, however, of a paler color and inferior 

 quality to that made li-om the first cream; it is, 

 therefore, usually churned apart. In making the 

 first quality, when the butter is come, the dairy- 

 woman throws it first into clear Avater, and then 

 upon a board, and with her liand squeezes out all 

 the water; sprinkling, at the same time, a little 

 salt over the whole mass, which is then divided 

 into pounds, and they, as they are weighed, are 

 again squeezed and rolled out to the length of 

 about fourteen inches. So far, the method nearly 

 accords with that in most other districts; but there 

 is this peculiarity in the management of the Ep- 

 ping dairy-women, that tliey consider a small pro- 

 portion oi" acid, either natural or artificial, necessa- 

 ry to ensure a good churning; for which purpose 

 they either mix sour cream with the sweet, or they 

 employ lemon juice, and sometimes rennet. The 

 practice merits attention on dairy farms whicli 

 possess pasture of a short and sweet nature; but 

 where the herbage is coarse, or the cows are fed 

 on roots, or other succulent artificial food, the 

 fresher the cream is churned, the better will be tlie 

 butter. 



With respect to the operation of claiming, we 

 would particularly remark, that it ought to be re- 

 gularly continued, till the butteris come, or formed; 

 for, if the motion be, in summer, too quick, the 

 butter will, in consequence, ferment and become 

 ill-tasted; and, in winter, it will go back. In hot 

 weather, the business of churning may be much 

 facilitated, by inniiersing the pump-churn (if such 

 be employed) about one foot deep into a vessel of 

 cold water, and continuing it there till the butteris 

 made. Where other churns are made use of, the 

 addition of one or two table-spoonsllil of distilled 

 vinegar, after the cream has been considerably 

 agitated, will, it is said, produce butter in the 

 course of an hour. It should, however, be ob- 

 served, that the temperature of the milk should 

 always be maintained at from 70 to 75 degrees of 

 Fahrenlieit's thermometer; and, therefore, in cold 

 weather, it is sometimes necessary to add as much 

 warm water as will raise it to that height. This 



