114 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



otherwise some of the cream will be dashed out in churn- 

 ing. In using either churn, discretion is necessary aa 

 to the motion given to it. Butter is soft and frothy, 

 or strong and ill-flavoured, if the plunger of the churn 

 is worked too quickly, or too slowly. There is a 

 regular equal motion, moderately slow at first, but 

 gradually becoming quicker, and always given in the 

 same direction, which is found to produce the best effect. 

 In the course of half an hour, or perhaps much longer, 

 according to the state of the weather, or the season of 

 the year, the butter begins to make its appearance in 

 small lumps, or kernels, which gradually increase in 

 number. These are collected and placed in a shallow 

 tub, and when all the butter is come, the buttermilk 

 which remains is set aside for the pigs. 



The butter in the tub is now spread out thin, beaten 

 with the hand, or with a flat wooden spoon, and re- 

 peatedly washed in clear spring water. Some persons 

 prefer working it well without water, from an idea that 

 the washing makes it poor in quality. Either way the 

 mass must be freed of buttermilk, and must be kept 

 very cool. It is a great advantage to a dairy-maid to 

 have naturally a cold hand ; if this is not the case, she 

 is obliged to plunge her hands repeatedly into cold 

 water, or to work the butter with a wooden beater, or a 

 cloth rolled up in a ball, so as to avoid the handling of 

 the butter as much as possible. Dairy-maids should 

 frequently wash their hands in hot water, using oatmeal 

 instead of soap, and then rinse and steep them in cold 

 water afterwards. 



The butter is next weighed out into pounds, or half- 

 pounds, and printed, or in two-pound pieces, and rolled. 

 The print is of wood, with a small air-hole in the centre, 

 and has some fancy pattern carved upon it. A bull 

 of butter is pressed upon this pattern, shaped round 

 the edges, and then flattened a little upon a marble 

 or wooden slab. The print is then loosened from it by 

 a smart blow. 



