SALTING. — PREPARING FOR MARKET-DAY. 321 



As a general rule, butter is washed with water and 

 worked over eleven or twelve times ; yet the operator 

 must judge whether the butter contains any particles of 

 milk, and must work with water till, as it runs off, it is 

 no longer whitish, but perfectly clear. Butter some- 

 times becomes too soft from too much working, if it is 

 all done at once ; it is then worked over two or three 

 times, and allowed to stand in cold water after each 

 working, which preserves its hardness and texture. 

 This whole operation is called the washing of the butter. 

 When the washing is finished, the butter is cut with 

 a blunt, saw-toothed knife, Fig. 114, in every direction, 



in order to remove all 

 hairs, or fibres of any 

 ri s- 114 - kind, which by any pos- 



sibility have got into it during the day. It is then 

 sprinkled over with white, finely-powdered salt, the 

 quantity of which is regulated by the taste ; and this is 

 perfectly worked in, so that the whole is uniformly 

 salted. Most dairy-women determine the quantity of 

 salt by the eye and the taste, and acquire such facility 

 by continued practice that they always get the proper 

 quantity ; but less experienced ones take the salt by 

 weight. The salting is not all done at once, but is con- 

 tinued three or four days, twelve hours intervening 

 between each application, until all the salt uaS dissolved, 

 and not a crystal is to be found. If the butter has a 

 speckled and variegated appearance, it is a sign that the 

 salt is not completely worked in, and the neglect must 

 be remedied by working it over still more in the most 

 thorough manner. When the salt is all dissolved, the 

 butter is brought into single balls and got ready for 

 the next market-day, or the whole mass is put into a 

 particular keg, in order to be taken to market at some 

 subsequent time as firkin-butter. 



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