THE DAIRY. 241 



each week or oacli montli ? But is salt essential to the preser- 

 vation of butter ? Is it not true rather, that the necessity for 

 its use, for this purpose, indicates imperfection in the process of 

 making ? That dairy woman who cannot make butter which 

 will keep without being made excessively salt, has, as we tliink, 

 much to learn, before arriving at perfection in her art. 



For the benefit of the novice, we may say that an ounce of 

 salt to tiie pound of butter would be about an equi-distant 

 mean between the two extremes of individual preferences. But 

 a very slight experience will show |;hat similar proportions will 

 not always secure similar results. Salt differs in its savor, and 

 butter in its conditions. The more imperfect has been the 

 process of separating the buttermilk from the butter the greater 

 will be the quantity of salt necessary to produce a given degree 

 of saltness. 



There are conditions everywhere essential to the production 

 of good butter, and general rules that all butter makers may 

 safely follow. Every utensil for dairy use should be thoroughly 

 cleansed with scalding water before being used. Milk should 

 be strained into broad, shallow pans, and should not exceed an 

 inch and a half in depth. The pans should be placed upon 

 slate rather than shelves, to allow free access of air, in a room 

 used exclusively for dairy purposes, well ventilated, but as little 

 as possible exposed to atmospheric changes, and should remain 

 perfectly at rest till the milk is ready for skimming. Where 

 quality is preferred to quantity, milk should be skimmed before 

 the cream has fully risen ; the time to be determined by the 

 extent to which the preference is carried, and by the state of 

 the weather. Cream should be churned while perfectly fresh 

 and sweet, at a temperature of from 58^ to 60°. The butter- 

 milk should be worked out with ladles, as completely as possible 

 before salting. Whatever quantity of salt is used "to suit the 

 taste," it should be thoroughly incorporated with the butter. 

 After being salted, and standing in a cool place twenty-four 

 hours, it should be again worked over, to complete the incorpo- 

 ration of the salt and the expulsion of the buttermilk. If not 

 to be used immediately, it should be carefully protected from 

 the air, or it will soon lose that fragrance which is the crown- 

 ing excellence of superior butter. By observing these sugges- 

 tions as good butter will be obtained as can be made from milk 

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