HINDRANCES TO SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 101 



any length. While corn meal, with good hay, is the staple 

 for butter, bright corn stalks and wheat bran form desirable 

 portions of the feed ; roots act as alteratives ; and to keep the 

 digestive organs in good condition, cotton-seed meal and 

 ensilage may be fed in moderate quantities. But the good 

 dairyman must exercise eternal vigilance to see that his cows 

 eat nothing which may give an " off" taste to the butter. 



There is still a difference of oi)inion as to the best method 

 of setting the milk, — in old-fashioned, round pans, largo 

 square shallow pans, or submerged in creamers. This last 

 method has the very great advantages of lessening the labor 

 of handling, and of keeping the milk free from dust or offen- 

 sive odors, which milk so readily absorbs, and wdiicli are 

 sure to make themselves manifest in the butter. Thorouirh 

 cleanliness is the underlying principle in butter making ; as 

 much as possible in the stable, and entirely so when the milk 

 reaches the house, Avhere it must in all its manipulations be 

 kept especially free from any foul smells, such as come from 

 kitchen cookery, tobacco smoking, nasty boots and clothes, 

 and rank vegetables. Skimming, churning, w^orking and 

 packing should be thoroughly performed. Especial atten- 

 tion should be paid to the importance of skilfully salting the 

 butter, neglect of Avhich, more than almost anything else, 

 impairs the taste and the texture of the butter, bringing it 

 down from fifty-five to twenty-five cents per pound. The 

 best butter salt, free from magnesia, soda and other matters 

 found in impure salt, should be used, and should l)e made as 

 fine as flour. The best way is to grind it in a mortar with a 

 pestle. It then is thoroughly dissolved and spreads through 

 every part of the butter, flavoring it equally, and from the 

 affinity of the salt for the moisture in the butter, every infini- 

 tesimal particle of salt takes an atom of water, which is 

 diffused invisibly through the mass, making it of a uniform, 

 dry, fine texture, while with good salt as usually put in there 

 are innumerable undissolved crystals of salt and globules of 

 water everywhere to be seen, which affect the appearance, 

 the taste, and very speedily and effectually the keeping qual- 

 ity. The microscope shows this difierence in a wonderful 

 manner. 



There has been much fine poetry as well as prose spent on 



