49 s 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



vessels used. Two such slats, nailed to 

 opposite sides of the post, will support 

 two pans of milk, one on each side of the 

 post. The rotary arrangement enables 

 one to stand in the same place to skim a 

 whole rack-full of milk. If pans are 

 used, the seamless ones are best, but 

 deeper ones, either of tin or earthenware, 

 are perhaps preferable, provided the milk 

 is cooled before being set. 



Washing the Utensils. — The greatest 

 care is requisite in cleansing these vessels, 

 of whatever material or form, as also of 

 all the other utensils employed in butter 

 making. This is a matter of much greater 

 importance than many suppose, as the 

 smallest neglect in regard to it is sure to 

 tell upon the cream and butter. The 

 pans and pails should be washed thor- 

 oughly, in two waters, each time being 

 made as clean as possible with the water 

 used; they should then be scalded thor- 

 oughly with boiling water. It is not 

 sufficient that the water should be tolera- 

 bly hot — that it should steam in the 

 kettle, or anything of the sort; it must 

 " dance as well as sing." The churn, 

 butter-bowl, and ladle, or butter-worker, 

 if one is used, should be washed and 

 .scalded with equal care, and all should 

 .be carefully wiped and dried, unless some 

 arrangement is made for drying in the 

 sun, which will do very well for tin and 

 earthenware, and save the labor of 

 wiping. In summer it will be necessary 

 to see that all utensils are cooled perfectly 

 before using them. 



Skimming. — The milk should be skim- 

 med as soon as all the cream has risen, 

 and before the milk has thickened. The 

 i exact time required for the cream to rise 

 will, of course, depend upon the tempera- 

 ture; but a little experience will enable 

 -one to tell. At the time the cream should 

 "(be removed it will have a bright, healthy 

 appearance, a rich, yellow, uniform color, 

 and such an adherency of particles as 

 will enable one, sometimes, to remove the 

 entire cream at one dip of the skimmer. 

 If allowed to stand too long without 

 skimming, both the quantity and quality 

 of the cream will be seriously affected. 

 The surface will become discolored, 

 blotched, and knobby, while underneath, 

 the cream is rapidly yielding to the cor- 

 rosive tendency of the acid in the milk. 

 'The thickest cream may be as surely 



destroyed by standing on the milk as 

 would be the firmest fabric in a bath of 

 sulphuric acid. When thus destroyed, 

 the cream is replaced by a thin, watery 

 substance, having no resemblance to 

 cream or milk. These facts, which may 

 be easily verified, show how essential it is 

 that the cream should be taken off before 

 the milk has acquired any great degree 

 of acidity. Yet in order to make the 

 largest quantity of butter care must be 

 taken not to remove the cream too soon. 

 Many neat, thrifty housewives make a 

 practice of " skimming up " all the milk 

 at stated intervals, so as to be through 

 with the job. This is, of course, very 

 pleasant, but it involves considerable loss, 

 as they do not get the full cream from 

 the newest milk. The milk should all be. 

 skimmed at the same age, provided it 

 has had the same conditions as regards 

 f emperature, etc. It follows, then, that 

 some milk should be skimmed every 

 night and morning. 



Winter Treatment. — It will be found 

 that in winter milk and cream require 

 somewhat different management. The 

 effort must now be to keep the milk warm 

 enough rather than to keep it cool ; and 

 a failure in this respect will very materi- 

 ally affect the quality of the butter. It 

 the milk is very much too cold, it will 

 have to stand so long for the cream to 

 rise that it will become bitter often long 

 before it becomes sour, and the quality of 

 bitterness will be still more apparent in 

 the butter. To prevent this, the milk 

 should be kept at a temperature of 6o° 

 if possible; if not, the milk may be 

 scalded as soon as strained, and the 

 cream will then have a fair start before 

 the milk has parted with this extra heat, 

 unless the place where it is kept is very 

 cold. If scalding is not found sufficient, 

 two or three spoonfuls of sour milk 

 (which has soured quickly and is not 

 bitter) may be added to each pan of milk 

 when it is set away. This will help to 

 sour the milk and cause the cream to rise 

 quicker, thus making it less liable to 

 become bitter. It may also help to pre- 

 vent bitterness to salt the cows often, 

 and see that they do not eat decayed 

 vegetables or any substances which may 

 impart a bad taste to the milk. 



The cream should be kept at about the 

 same temperature (6o°), and should be 



