536 HANDY-BOOK OP HUSBANDRY. 



" over the small hole — through which the remaining water escaped. 

 " It was left in this condition about two hours. After breakfast 

 " we returned to see the working of the butter. 



" Butter-worker. — In one corner of the spring-house stands the 

 " butter-worker, a revolving table about three feet in diameter. 

 *' The center of this, for a diameter of twelve inches, is an iron 

 " wheel with a row of cogs on the upper side of its rim. From 

 " this rim to the raised outer edge the table (made of wood) slopes 

 " downward, so that as the buttermilk is worked out it passes into 

 " a shallow groove and is carried away through a pipe which dis- 

 " charges into a pail standing below. Over the sloping part of 

 " the table there works a corrugated wooden roller, revolving on 

 " a shaft that is supported over the center of the table, and has a 

 " small cog-wheel that works in the cogged rim of the center 

 " wheel, and causes the table to revolve under the roller, as this 

 "is turned by a crank at its outer end. Of course the roller is 

 " larger at one end than at the other, so as to conform to the slope 

 " of the table, and its corrugations are very deep, not less than 

 " two inches at the larger end. Supported at each end of the 

 " roller, and on both sides, are beveled blocks, which, as the 

 " table revolves, force the butter from each end toward the center 

 " of the slope. About twenty pounds of butter is now put on the 

 " table, and the roller is turned, each corrugation carrying through 

 " a long, narrow roll, which is immediately followed by another 

 "and another, until the whole table is covered. The roller does 

 *' not quite touch the table, and there is thus no actual crushing of 

 "the particles. The beveled blocks slightly bend these rolls 

 " and crowd them toward the qenter of the sloping part, so that 

 " when they reach the roller again they are broken in fresh places, 

 " and by a few revolutions are thoroughly worked in every part. 



" Final Processes. — Then follows a process that was new to all 

 " of us — the ' wiping ' of the butter. The dairy-maid (in this 

 " instance a lusty young man) turning the roller backward, with 

 " the left hand, so that the butter comes through at the right hand 

 " side, presses upon every part of it a cloth which has been wrung 

 " dry in the cold spring water, and which he frequently washes 



