1888. J PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 109 



the chlorides of magnesium and of calcium, might prove 

 highly objectionable to the dairyman, on account of its un- 

 pleasantly bitter saline taste ; while the sulphate of lime 

 rarely amounts to less than one and one-quarter per cent, in 

 the best-reputed brands of dairy salts, home and foreign. 



A detailed statement of the exact amount of each of the 

 above-mentioned foreign saline admixtures is for this reason 

 needed, to render a decision possible regarding the relative 

 merits of the various brands of salt offered for sale, as far as 

 a desirable composition is concerned. 



The most common cause of injuring the composition of 

 salt, for dairy purposes in particular, is a too liberal use of 

 lime during its manufacture, to secure a desirable white color 

 and a fine granulation of the salt produced. 



The natural consequence of that course of operation is an 

 alkaline reaction of the salt, — a most objectionable quality of 

 a dairy salt, for it hastens on the decomposition of the 

 butter. 



The peculiar nature of the products of the dairy, — butter 

 and cheese, — as well as the unusual pecuniary risks involved 

 in their successful manufacture, renders it necessary that 

 only first-class articles of salt should be applied for dairy 

 purposes. The fitness of any of the various brands of salt 

 in our markets for dairy use is not restricted to those ob- 

 .tained from any particular natural source or locality, but de- 

 pends entirely upon a suitable good chemical composition, 

 and a suitable mechanical condition. 



A good dairy salt ought to be of a neutral reaction, and of 

 a pure saline taste ; free from offensive odor, and without 

 any stain of color ; of a properly reduced size to favor a 

 speedy solution ; and, what is scarcely of less importance, 

 free from colored specks. As the application of dairy salt 

 in form of saturated solutions enables, with but little trouble, 

 the removal of insoluble foreign admixtures, this mode of 

 using salt in the dairy industries, whenever admissable, de- 

 serves commendation. 



To produce an article of the above description requires an 

 extra exertion on the part of the manufacturer, and necessi- 

 tates thus additional expenses, as compared with the average 

 brands of ' ' common fine " and the ordinary ' ' coarse or 



