55 



of time. Of the cheap ones I prefer a plain glass one (floating) 

 to those fixed on wood or metal they are easier to clean. 



CHURNS. 



I doubt if there is any other implement on which more patents 

 have been taken than on the churn, thus in the United States 

 2,955 were taken out from 1800 to 1904, and yet how few new 

 principles have been developed! About 2,000 years ago Pliny 

 described an up and down dash churn very 

 much the same as the one yet made and sold 

 in most countries (Fig. 40) in which just 

 as good butter can be made as in the very 

 latest "patent," even though it does take more 

 work, and leaves more fat in the buttermilk. 

 The old Russian Churn (Fig. 41 from 

 Martini's "Kirne and Girbe"), which is a 

 stone jar in which the stirrer, provided with 

 anchor-like prongs, is twirled round and 

 round between the hands, may yet be found 

 in northern Europe, and may be said to rep- 

 resent our modern revolving dash churns, of which the Danish 

 (Fig. 42) represents the vertical and the "Blanchard" the horizon- 

 tal system. 



Another development was the revolving barrels with various 

 kinds of fixed dashers, such as the old Swiss "Grindstone" churn. 

 But evolution simplified these to the end-over-end revolving barrel. 



(Fig. 40) 



(Fig. 41) 



(Fig. 42) 



