CHUENIKG.] 



CATTLE, AXD THEIE YAEIETIES. 



[cnUKKIXG. 



this period it causes great annoyance to the 

 dairy farmer, for tlie cows then eat it, and a 

 very unpleasant flavour is imparted to the 

 nulk and butter. AVe have heard of a person 

 who kept a cow in a meadow where it grew 

 abundantly, and who was obliged, during the 

 flowering season, to take her out and depasture 

 her on the higher ground, as no sale could be 

 met with for the butter on account of its dis- 

 agreeable flavour. The milk was not dis- 

 coloured, and the flavour was brought out 

 more strongly by the process of churning. 



In the case of turnips, the smell of the 

 milk is very disagreeable; and the butter pro- 

 duced from the milk of a cow fed on these, 

 will even impart a portion of its flavour to 

 any pastry that may be. made with it. In 

 order to give butter a pleasing colour, some 

 colouring matter is usually mixed with it. 

 For this purpose, in most cases, annotta is 

 used ; but the best colouring is the juice of 

 carrots, which has the advantage of beinf 

 entirely free from injurious tendencies. 



After a cow has calved, her milk is thick, 

 and deeply tinged with a yellow hue, when 

 it is termed the "beestings," or " beastings." 

 It is then more abundantly supplied with 

 caseine, or curd, which is sold for the purpose 

 of making cheese-cakes. Tlie strippings, or 

 afterings, is the last milk which is taken from 

 the udder of the cow, and is by far the most 

 plentifully endued with the cheese and butter 

 elements. Erom a knowledge of this fact, 

 many dairymen make it a practice always to 

 strip their cows themselves, notwithstanding 

 that the principal part of the milking may 

 have been performed by their servants. 



The operation of churning is, when most 

 quickly performed, generally most successful ; 

 but, should the cows have been long calved, 

 and the weather cold and stormy, the process 

 becomes considerably protracted, and instead of 

 twenty minutes— the time allowed for a brisk 

 turning in favourable weather— it may extend 

 to ten, twelve, or even fourteen hours. When 

 butter first makes its appearance, it is said to 

 be in "skill," a technicality expressive of the 

 caseous matter being separated from the 

 butyraceous. When an adherence of the small 

 pjirticles of butter with each other commences 

 to show itself, the rapidity of the motion must 

 be lessened, and the butter-milk, to some 

 678 



extent, let ofl", when the gathering process 

 will begin, and, in about ten minutes, be 

 completed. About 55° is the best heat 

 to churn with ; but it sometimes requires 

 more. Eespecting the form of the churn, 

 opinions differ ; but the grand object in the 

 constructing of this machine, ought to be to 

 secure the greatest facility of operation, com- 

 bined with a quick, steady, though accompanied 

 with a trembling or quivering pressure of the 

 contents.. In churns generally, this is accom- 

 plished by various mechanical contrivances, 

 every one of which has its merits. The most 

 common, however, is the form of churn which 

 has a cylinder studded w-ith plates, pierced 

 with holes, attached to its inner surface, re- 

 volving round a couple of axles, and admitting 

 of one or two handles, in accordance with the 

 weight or quantity of the cream. Another 

 kind of churn is made with a flapper, which is, 

 with great rapidity, driven through the cream 

 by means of a piston, with a perforated base, 

 and by up and down, or perpendicular motion, 

 either in a cylinder, or vessel similarly formed. 

 Plans have been conceived by which the labour 

 of churning might be lightened ; but we are 

 not aware that they have been attended with 

 much success. The American, and the table 

 clmrns, available for the immediate manufac- 

 tui-e of butter every morning for the breakfast 

 of the rich, are so far a step in advance, and a 

 luxury, but for the large operation of the 

 dairy farmer, a better application than the 

 churn of his forefathers, we believe, has yet to 

 be discovered. 



The true method of butter-making, is to 

 have the churn, and the temperature of the 

 dairy, arranged so as to preserve,. as nearly as 

 poswiblo, tile degree of heat necessary to the 

 perfect separation of the cream. It should 

 not be so high as to impart a too great degree 

 of sourness to the contents ; but, if it be too 

 cold, the butter will not separate eflectually; 

 whilst the operation of churning will be ex- 

 tremely tedious, render the butter full of 

 breaks, make it brittle in texture, and give it 

 a pale colour. These will be the results of a 

 too cold temperature; whilst a too hot tem- 

 perature will make it both light and oily. 

 Another essential point towards the production 

 of good butter is, that the cows, from whose 

 milk it is to be made, should not have calved 



