WORCESTER SOCIETY. 161 



" In many dairies the practice is to churn the whole milk. 

 This requires larger churns, and is best done by the aid of 

 water or animal power ; it is considered to produce more butter, 

 and this is said by some, to be finer and of better quality, I 

 do not think that there have been any very decisive experiments 

 upon this point." 



" The excellence of butter is greatly influenced by the tem- 

 perature of the milk or cream, at the time of churning ; if this 

 be too hot or too cold, it is difficult to get butter at all, and 

 when got, it is usually of poor quality. A large number of exper- 

 iments have been made with regard to this point, and the result 

 arrived at, is, that cream should be churned at a temperature, 

 when the churning commences, of from fifty to fifty-five de- 

 grees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. If the whole milk is used, 

 the temperature should be about sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit 

 at commencing. In summer then, the cream would need cooling, 

 and sometimes in winter a little warmth. It is surprising how 

 the quality of the butter is improved by attention to these 

 points. I have seen churns made double, so that warm water or 

 some cooling mixture, according as the season was winter or 

 summer, might be put into the outer part. It will be seen, that 

 in whatever way the temperature is regulated, a thermometer is 

 a most important accompaniment to the dairy." 



'•The time occupied in churning is also matter of much con- 

 sequence. Several churns have been exhibited lately, which 

 will make butter in from three to ten minutes, and these are 

 spoken of as important improvements. The most carefully 

 conducted trials on this point, have shown that as the time 

 was shortened, the butter grew poorer in quality, and this is 

 consistent with reason. Such violent agitation as is effected in 

 these churns, separates the butter, it is true, but the globules 

 are not thoroughly deprived of the casein which covers them 

 in the milk ; there is consequently much cheesy matter mingled 

 with the butter which is ordinarily soft and pale, and does not 

 keep well. Until the advocates of very short time in churning, 

 can show that the butter made by their churns is equal in qual- 

 ity to that produced in the ordinary time, farmers had better 

 teware how they change their method, lest the quality of their 

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