494 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



3X7TTEE MAKING.— Why is it that 

 when superior butter brings twice the 

 price of poor, there is so much that is 

 ■decidedly unfit to eat ? The art of mak- 

 ing a good article has long been known, 

 in all civilized countries, by thousands of 

 people, still there is probably in no coun- 

 try a supply of the best for a tenth of the 

 population. Some one recently asked in 

 the New York Farmers' Club, why plain 

 directions for making good butter could 

 not be published with a prospect for their 

 general adoption. A veteran member re- 

 plied, with something of human philoso- 

 phy in the remark, that human nature was 

 so perverse that few would follow any but 

 the peculiar method early taught and long 

 practiced. In many a city market a buyer 

 of good taste may test the stock of a dozen 

 stalls before finding one that offers a satis- 

 factory sample ; yet while the buyer hon- 

 estly and properly says, " it is naught," 

 the seller, perhaps, with equal honesty, 

 declares it is " all right," either because it 

 was made in his own family, or suits his 

 own taste, perverted with a thousand 

 samples of poor or medium quality. So 

 many a dairy -woman, proud of her 

 achievements, sends her produce to mar- 

 ket with first-rate expectations, and re- 

 ceives in return a third-rate price. Yet, 

 while it may naturally differ, a really good 

 roll or tub of solid, fragrant, sweet, golden 

 Gutter will always find an appreciating 

 purchaser, and obtain a good price. 



How can there be general improve- 

 ment, approximation to perfection in 

 quality, and avoidance of soap-grease, 

 bearing the misnomer, "cooking butter ?" 



Hoping to lead to a practical solution 

 of this problem, while despairing of offer- 

 ing anything actually new on the subject, 

 we propose to give a few of the methods 

 by which the most noted and acceptable 

 butter of the country is made. It will be 

 seen that methods vary, and that the but- 

 ter is made in many different ways, and 

 yet it will be observed that there are cer- 

 tain principles which rule in all, and that 

 there is really less difference than appears ; 

 and these very differences prove the pos- 

 sibility of general improvement and com- 

 parative uniformity by attention to essen- 

 tials. 



To find the first of these essentials, it is 

 necessary to go back to the pasture, and 

 secure sweet and nutritious grasses, as 



milk and butter of the finest quality can 

 not be produced upon weeds, sour grasses, 

 or distilled slops. Then the cows, se- 

 lected for hereditary excellence, as elab- 

 orators of superior milk, should be gently 

 treated, carefully and rapidly milked by 

 the same person at regular intervals. The 

 milk and cream must be kept at an even 

 and comparatively low temperature, in a 

 perfectly clean place, free from odors of 

 every description; and the utensils and 

 vessels must be kept scrupulously clean, 

 scalded thoroughly after use to prevent 

 the development of cryptogamic germs ; 

 if in winter, milk and cream must not re- 

 main at so low a temperature, or be kept 

 so long as to become bitter. Then the 

 butter, after churning, must be kept at a 

 reduced temperature, worked thoroughly 

 without much pressure, in such a manner 

 as to exhaust the buttermilk or added 

 water, but not so as to break down the 

 grain of the butter and render it greasy. 

 Notwithstanding the fact that a very good 

 article has been made by working with 

 the hands, it is an uncleanly practice, not 

 so well adapted to rapid and complete 

 expulsion of buttermilk as approved me- 

 chanical appliances. 



A study of the peculiarities of the 

 modes of making the most popular 

 brands of butter, will reveal how fully 

 the best practice agrees in the above es- 

 sentials. We first describe the method 

 adopted in making the 



Butter, New York Factory. — In the 

 New York butter factories, the milk-rooms 

 are constructed with a view to thorough 

 ventilation, and are provided with water 

 tanks sunk in the earth, and arranged for 

 a depth of eighteen inches of water. 

 There should be a constant flow of water 

 through the vats to secure a uniform tem- 

 perature, which should not be below 48 , 

 nor higher than 56 . As soon as the 

 milk is delivered it is set in tin pails eight 

 inches in diameter and twenty inches deep, 

 the milk standing at a depth of seventeen 

 inches in the pail. Milk cooled in this 

 way throws up its cream rapidly, and the 

 uniform temperature of the cream has a 

 favorable effect on the churning. Good 

 milk thus treated will keep sweet for 

 thirty-six hours, even in the hottest 

 weather, and as much cream may be ob- 

 tained as from milk in shallow pans. 

 The cream will nearly all rise in twenty- 



