322 



THE BUTTER-MOULDS. 



The Form of Fresh Butter. — The form of the but- 

 ter is made by taking a suitable quantity and press- 

 ing it into a mould, and then taking it out by knocking 

 on the mould. Many different forms of butter-moulds 

 are in use in the different sections of Holland, such as 

 are shown in Figs. 115, 116, and others. 



b'l/. 115. Fig. 116. 



The figures impressed on the butter are given by the 

 mould, where it is deeply engraved ; or they are made 

 after the butter is taken out of the mould, and for this pur- 

 pose a peculiar instrument is used, Fig. 117, a kind of flat 

 wooden spoon, with a short, convenient handle, 

 and long grooves in the broad, flat surface. Eacli 

 region has its own peculiar stamp, or special 

 figures, which are given to lump-butter, to which 

 particular attention is paid by the purchaser. 

 The butter-dealer knows exactly that in one 

 section butter is stamped in one way, in another 

 section in some other way ; and that the butter 

 of one section, with its peculiar stamp, is worth 

 iitr. 117. more than that of another. 

 The butter-moulds are generally made of linden-wood, 

 but must always be large enough to hold at least a cer- 

 tain prescribed weight of butter; for all lump-butter 

 brought for sale to the weekly market must be of a 

 prescribed weight. This weight is very different, and 

 almost every city has different regulations and market 

 customs; yet, in most places, a pound is the legal 



