MILK AND WATER, 



219 



will make more and richer butter than the second, and 

 that next obtained richer than the third, and so on. 



The last quart of milk drawn at a milking, for reasons 

 already stated, will make a more delicious and savory 

 butter than the first ; and if the last quart or two of a 

 milking is set by itself, and the first cream that rises 

 taken from it after standing only five or six hours, it 

 will produce the richest and highest-flavored butter the 

 cow is capable of giving, under like circumstances as to 

 season and feed. 



The separation of the butter particles from the others 

 is slower and more difficult in proportion to the thick- 

 ness and richness of the milk. Hence in winter, on dry 

 feeding, the milk being richer and more buttery, the 

 cream or particles of butter are slower and longer in 

 rising. But, as heat liquefies milk, the difficulty is over- 

 come in part by elevating the temperature. The same 

 effect is produced by mixing a little water into the milk 

 when it is set. It aids the separation, and consequently 

 more cream will rise in the same space of time, from 

 the same amount of rich milk, with a little water in it, 

 than without. Water slightly warm, if in cold weather, 

 will produce the most perceptible effect. The quantity 

 of butter will be greater from milk treated in this way; 

 the quality, slightly deteriorated. 



It must be apparent, from what has been said, that 

 butter may be produced by agitating the whole body 

 of the milk, and thus breaking up the filmy coatings of 

 the globules, as well as by letting it stand for the cream 

 to rise. This course is preferred by many practical 

 dairymen, and is the general practice in some of the 

 countries most celebrated for superior butter. 



The general treatment of milk and the management 

 of cream have been already alluded to in a former chap- 

 ter. It has been seen that the first requisites to sue- 



