300 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



pleasant to the taste, having the flavor of both fresh 

 butter and cheese. It is most delicious eating/' 



"We know that," Emile assented, "from those 

 capital sandwiches Mother Ambroisine makes for 

 us with cream on feast days." 



"That delicacy," remarked his uncle, "cannot be 

 allowed every day, for the cream is needed for butter 

 for the family." 



' ' Once I helped Mother Ambroisine work the little 

 butter machine, a kind of small cask called a churn. 

 Why do we have to thump so long to get the butter!" 



"That is what I am going to explain to you. In 

 cream the particles of butter are simply grouped 

 side by side, without forming a united body. Be- 

 sides, a layer of moisture, coming from the whey, 

 isolates them and prevents their uniting. To com- 

 bine all these particles into a compact mass of but- 

 ter, it is necessary to squeeze out the milk and knead 

 them together. This is accomplished by prolonged 

 beating. 



' ' The implement used is called a churn. The sim- 

 plest consists of a kind of small cask larger at the 

 bottom than at the top. The cover is pierced with 

 an opening through which runs a rod carrying a per- 

 forated wooden disc on the end inside the churn. 

 After the cream has been poured into the churn, the 

 operator takes the rod in both hands and vigorously 

 raises it and plunges it down in alternate strokes, 

 thus causing the terminal disc to rise and fall in the 

 creamy mass. By this prolonged beating the fatty 

 particles unite and become butter. Sometimes the 



