CIIAI'TKK IX. 



BUTTER-MAKING, 



The churn, before being used, should lirst be thoroughly washed 

 with cold water. Roiling water should then be put in and care 

 taken to let it have access to every part of the churn. The hot 

 water is then allowed to escape and the churn thoroughly cooled 

 down with cold water, by so doing the pores of the wood are con- 

 tracted and the sticking of the butter to the wood prevented. Some 

 dairymen use brine for cooling the churn, and its use is advan- 

 tageous if the churn is not made of first-class wood, or if it is very 

 old. Hut with a new churn, made of well-seasoned wood, it is not 

 necessary. If this practice is followed immediately after and before 

 churning there will never be any necessity for the use of s ->da or 

 other chemicals. Of course, it is taken for granted that the churn 

 has been properly made and there are no crevices or cracks to 

 allow the cream to lodge in ; if such should be the case, there is 

 only one remedy, and that is to burn /'/, for a little bad cream 

 remaining in the cracks is sufficient to spoil every churning, and it 

 is almost impossible to thoroughly cleanse such a churn. ^ 



The cream should be poured through a wire sieve into the 

 churn, so that any lumps that may be in it can be broken up and 

 thus ensure uniformity of churning. It is also useful in case any 

 foreign matter may have dropped in. 



We now corne to the question of colouring. In the winter and 

 spring, if the cattle are on green feed, there will never be any 

 necessity for artificial colouring, but when the pastures dry up the 

 butter comes out a sickly white, then colouring is required, but care 

 must be taken not to overdo it, as one extreme is quite as bad as the 

 other. The usual way of colouring butter is to add some annatto 

 prepared in oil, which mixes with and is thoroughly incorporated 

 with the butter. As soon as the cream is put into the churn the 

 required qnantity of colouring is added and churning started at once. 



Damage is often done to the butter by churning too fast. When 

 starting the speed should be slow and then gradually increased up to 

 the usual rate, which, taken as an average, is about 45 turns a minute ; 

 then, just before the butter breaks, the speed should be reduced 

 again. When churning is first started the cream gradually swells 

 a d compresses the air, and unless this is allowed to escape there 

 is a danger of straining the churn. After a few turns, if there is an 

 air hole in the churn, it should be opened every now and again, so 

 long as there is any air coming away. With many people 

 there is a difficulty in knowing exactly when to stop churning, and 



