152 BRITISH DAIRYING. 



the vicinity." I tasted the butter, examined its grain, cut it 

 across for evidence as to superfluous salt and water. <; Well," 

 said he, " what do you think of it ? " I replied that it was 

 overloaded with both salt and water, that its grain was coarse, 

 and its flavour ditto, to say the least of it, and that I would 

 not like to have such an article on my table. " You are about 

 right," he rejoined. " I buy butter sometimes from that person 

 because she is a customer of mine, but I don't like it. Would 

 you believe that her husband has a farm at above ^300 a-year 

 rent, and she persists in declaring that there is no butter in 

 the county better than her own ! " 



Well now, it will be comparatively easy to see that there 

 are dairymaids, woefully wanting in skill and management as 

 they are, who will neither believe nor admit that dairy tuition 

 in the shires is intended for such as they. These interesting 

 devotees to a changing and shrinking industry seem to think 

 there are a few of them left that an admission that tuition 

 might be useful to them is virtually a confession of incom- 

 petence. They do not for a moment see that it is never too 

 late to learn. 



For all that, however, the itinerant dairy schools were useful 

 in teaching the few and interesting the many. 



The scale of points assigned to a competition in butter- 

 making varies according to the judges' notions. In some 

 local competitions they were as follows : 



Points. 



Preparation of cream, churn, &c. . . 5 



P.egulation of temperature . 5 



Efficient ventilation .... 5 



Churning ...... 10 



Washing ...... 10 



Working . v . . . . , 10 



Making up 5 



Grain of butter ... 5 



General proficiency . . . . 10 



65 



