240 THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY IN IRELAND. 



"method of making 'dutch' butter. 



"The dairy should be very cold, clean, and of equal temperature, with very 

 little light and no sunshine getting on any part of it. A good current of air 

 should pass through the dairy. 



"In milking, put one-eighth of an ounce of pure ground saltpetre in a 

 vessel that will contain about eight gallons of the milk ; use more or less salt- 

 petre in proportion to the size of the vessel to be filled. Strain with care into 

 coolers perfectly sweet and dry, and keep the whole thus from two to four days, 

 when all the milk should be churned, and not skimmed. 



"After churning the milk should be withdrawn and the butter divided and 

 placed in pans of pickle, made from pure water and fine salt. 



" The butter should then be well worked with the hand, frequently 

 changing the pickle until all the milk is worked out. The butter should 

 be cured with two pounds of the finest stoved salt, with which should be 

 mixed two ounces of powdered refined sugar, then well packed down into a 

 white firkin, which ought to be filled a few days previously with strong 

 pickle. 



"Cork, igth October, 1843." 



The port of Waterford was also largely used for butter exportation, the 

 markets of Tipperar}*, Clonmel, and smaller towns in the Counties of 

 Waterford and Tipperary contributing very large quantities of butter for 

 exportation from this port. 



Time changes all things, and scientific methods of dairying quickly 

 brought reformation in dairying methods in Ireland. Not alone were 

 methods of dairying changed, but in some districts that formerly ranked 

 high both as regards the quality and quantity of the butter produced, the 

 industry has at present almost completely died out through the dairy farmers 

 in those districts refusing to recognise the altered conditions and require- 

 ments of the markets in the matter of dairy produce. Ireland has, however, 

 fully awakened to the necessity for change in dairy methods. Already 

 market quotations reveal a satisfactory state of affairs in the prices of Irish 

 butter as compared witii those of its most formidable competitors ; and 

 this is as it should be, for, with the undoubted advantages possessed by 

 Ireland for the production of the best butter, it is certain that in this country 

 dairying must continue to hold an important place in the national economy. 

 The systems of butter production in Ireland may be classed under two 

 headings : — 



{a) The Home-dairying method, in which butter is made in varying quan- 

 tities and sold either in (i) large packages, firkins, or boxes, or (2) m 

 lumps to be blended and packed for the markets. 



{b) The Creamery method, in which milk is sent to centres in which the 

 cream is separated, prepared for churning, and the butter made up and 

 prepared for different markets either by being put into (i) firkins or boxes, 

 or (2) made up as rolls. 



The Creamery system is gradually but surely extending in the country, 

 and is conducted in several ways — by co-operative methods, by joint stock 

 companies, and by large farmers who can afford to set up the machinery 

 necessary for this system. The accompanying map will give some idea of 

 the proportion and territorial distribution of the systems now existing in 

 Ireland. 



