BUTTER AND EGGS. 



BUTTERNUT. 



times ; tnen a thin gauze dipped in cold water, 

 spread over it, on which the prints or rolls of 

 butter are to be placed, each with one or more 

 leaves beneath, and smaller ones over it. The 

 lowermost layer being adjusted, fold half of 

 the gauze cloth over it, put in another layer in 

 the same way, and then cover with the re- 

 mainder of the gaze. The butter should be put 

 into the basket, as well as taken from thence, 

 without being touched. 



Whey butter, as its name implies, is butter 

 made from the whey which is taken from the 

 curd, after the milk is coagulated for the 

 manufacture of cheese. It is chiefly made in 

 those counties where cheese is manufactured, 

 and where it forms no inconsiderable part of 

 the profits of the dairy. In the county of Derby 

 more butter is said to be made from whey than 

 from the cream of milk, or from milk churned 

 altogether. 



Whey is divided into two sorts, green and 

 white, the former escaping readily from the 

 curd, while the latter is freed from it by means 

 of pressure. "There are different methods of 

 extracting the whey. In some dairies the whole 

 whey, when taken from the cheese-tub, is put 

 into pails or other vessels, where it remains 

 for about twenty-four hours; when it is 

 creamed, and the whey is applied to the use 

 of calves and pigs, which are said to thrive as 

 well on it, after the cream has been taken from 

 it, as before. The cream, when skimmed off 

 the whey, is put into a brass pan and boiled, 

 and afterwards set in pans or jars, where it re- 

 mains till a sufficient quantity for a churning 

 be procured, which, in large dairies, happens 

 generally once, but sometimes twice, in the 

 week." In Ayrshire whey is given to horses. 

 {Loud. Encyc. of Agriculture.) See DAIKT. 



BUTTER and EGGS. See TOAD-FLAX. 



BUTTER-CUP, butter-flower, or upright 

 meadow crow's foot (Ranunculus bulbosus, 

 Smith). (PI. 10, /.) A common perennial 

 weed, abounding in meadows and pastures, 

 and blooming in May. The whole plant is 

 extremely acrid, so as often to be employed by 

 country people to raise a blister. Bees are, 

 however, very fond of it; it is eaten by sheep 

 and goats; but horses, cows, and swine refuse 

 it; drying destroys its acrimony. The roots 

 are perennial, and bulbous; the stem rises a 

 foot high, and bears its yellow flowers on the 

 ends of its branches. 



Dr. Darlington says that some fifteen or 

 twenty species of ranunculus have been enu- 

 merated in the United States. (Flor. Cestrica.) 



BUTTERFLY. The common English name, 

 says Brande (Diet, of Science), of an extensive 

 group of insects, as they appear in their last 

 and fully developed state, when they constitute 

 the most beautiful and elegant examples of 

 their class. These insects belong to the order 

 Lepidoptera, and to the section Diurna of La- 

 treille, oi 1 the genus Papilio of Linnaeus. The 

 eggs of the butterfly are deposited on such 

 plants as afford the nutriment most appropriate 

 to the caterpillars, that are to be excluded 

 from them ; thus, the common white butterfly 

 (Pieris brassier) and other species, oviposit 

 upon cabbages, and hence have been termed 

 brassicarice ; the gaudy peacock butterfly lays 



her eggs upon the nettle. The eggs are coated 

 with a glutinous secretion as they are excluded 

 from the parent, and thus they are provided 

 with the means of adhesion to the leaves or 

 stems of the plants selected. See CATER- 

 PILLARS. 



BUTTERNUT (Juglans cathartica vel Cine- 

 rai). A species of walnut growing in the 

 United States, in different parts of which it is 

 known by different names. In the New Eng- 

 land States it generally takes the name of oil- 

 nut; in some of the Middle States it is called 

 white walnut; but from New York to the Caro- 

 linas, and from Pennsylvania to Ohio, the most 

 common name is butternut. The region of 

 this tree is very extensive, as it is found from 

 Upper and even Lower Canada to the Flo- 

 ridas, and from the Atlantic to the Missouri. 

 Even in Vermont and other cold regions its 

 growth is so luxuriant that it attains a circum- 

 ference of eight or ten feet. Michaux mea- 

 sured some in New Jersey nearly opposite 

 New York, growing on the steep and elevated 

 banks of the Hudson, where the soil was cold 

 and unproductive, and found them, five feet 

 from the ground, ten or twelve feet in circum- 

 ference, and fifty feet high, with roots running 

 along the surface of the ground in a serpentine 

 direction, and with little variation in size, to 

 the distance of forty feet. The limbs gene- 

 rally branch off at a small height above the 

 base, and spread themselves widely, which 

 gives the tree a striking appearance. 



In the spring its vegetation is forward, and 

 its leaves unfold a fortnight earlier than those 

 of the hickory. The black walnut and butter- 

 nut, when young, resemble each other, in their 

 foliage, and in the rapidity of their growth ; 

 but when arrived at maturity, their forms are 

 so different as to be distinguishable at first 

 sight. Remarkable peculiarities are also found, 

 on examining their wood, especially when 

 seasoned. The black walnut is heavy, strong, 

 and of a dark-brown colour ; while the butter- 

 nut is light, of little strength, and of a reddish 

 hue. But they possess in common the great 

 advantage of lasting long, and of being se- 

 cure from the annoyance of worms. The 

 wood of the butternut is used for the sleepers 

 and posts of frame houses and barns, for post 

 and rail fences, troughs for cattle, &c. For 

 corn-shovels and wooden dishes, it is preferred 

 to the red-flowering maples, because it is lighter 

 and less liable to split; consequently hollow 

 ware and other articles made of it sell at 

 higher prices. In Vermont the wood is used 

 for the panels of coaches and chaises, being 

 well adapted for this purpose, not only from 

 its lightness, but because it is not liable to 

 ! split. It receives paint in a superior manner, 

 \ its pores being very open, more so than those 

 i of poplar and bass-wood. 



The bark of the butternut possesses medi- 

 cinal properties of a cathartic nature which 

 have been highly recommended both by the 

 testimony of the regular faculty and popular 

 practice. An extract prepared from the bark 

 is prescribed by American physicians in doses 

 of from half a drachm to a drachm to adults. 

 In the revolutionary war when supplies of 

 foreign medicines were cut off, the extract of 



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