NO. 7. 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



in general, about the first drawn half of the 

 milk is separated, at each inilking-, and the 

 remainder only set tor producing- cream, and 

 if that milk is allowed to stand to throw- 

 ing-, the whole of its cream, even till it 

 begins sensibly to taste sourish, and if 

 that cream is at'tcrwards carefully managed, 

 the butter thus obtained will be of a (juality 

 greatly superior to what can be usually ob- 

 tained at market, and its qii;uitity not consid- 

 erably less, than if the wimle of I he milk had 

 been treated alike. This therefore is the 

 practice that is thought most likely to suit 

 the fru;jal farmer, as his butter, tliouph of a 

 superior quality, could be aflbrded at a price 

 that would always insure it a rapid sale." 



The degree of heat proper to ral^e the 

 MOST CREAM. — Tlic procise heat has not been 

 fixed by c.\periment, but " from the trials 

 that have been made on this subject, it is be- 

 lie veil, that when the heat is from 50 to 55 

 degrees in Fahrenheit's Thermometer, the 

 separation of cream from milk proceeds with 

 the greatest regularity, and in the most fa- 

 vorable manner. When the heat exceeds 

 Cn)^ the operation becomes difficult and dan- 

 gerous; and when it falls below 40° the op- 

 ■eration can scarcely be carried forward with 

 any degree of economy or propriety." 



On the proper time for skimming milk.— 



It is the opinion of some of the English wri- 

 ters, " that for very fine butter the milk 

 ought not to stand more than 6 or 8 hours ; 

 for ordinary good butter 12 hours or more." 



Skimming. — This requires a dexterity that 

 can be acquired only by practice, but it niu.'-t 

 be well done, for if any part of the cream is 

 left, the quantity of the butter will be di- 

 minished, and if part of the milk is taken, 

 the quality will be" the worse for it. 



The mode of keeping cream. — When the 

 cream is separated from the iriilk, it ought 

 to be put immediately into a vessel by itself. 

 No vessel can be better adapted lor this 

 purpose than a neat made wooden barrel, in 

 size proportioned to the extent of the dairy, 

 open at one end, with a lid exactly fitted to 

 close it. Close to the bottom should be 

 placed a cock, for drawing off, from time to 

 time, any thin serous part of the milk, that 

 may have generated, which, if allowed to re- 

 main, acts on the cream, and greatly dimin- 

 ishes the richness in the quality of the but- 

 ter. The inside of the opening should be 

 covered with a bit of close fine wire, to keep 

 the cream back while the serous is allowed 

 to pass ; the top of the barrel should be in- 

 clined a little forward. 



On the time of keeping cream before 

 Churning. — Epping butter is in high repute 



for its superior quality, and " the cream is 

 seldom kept above 3, or at the furthest 4 

 days, but always till there is a certain degree 

 oi' acidity in the cream either 7>atural or ar- 

 tificial, ns without it they cannot ensure a good 

 churning of butter; sorue kecj) ;i little old 

 cream lijr this use, otherwise a little ren- 

 net. 



In SufTJjik, in a large dairy, with a high 

 character for making butter of a superior 

 quality and where the butter was to be sent 

 directly to market, the cream was churned 

 the second or third day, but when it was to 

 be salted, it was kept a day or two longer, 

 or till it had acquired a certain degree of 

 acidity. The reason assigned was, "that 

 butter from thc'fieshesl cream was better 

 and pleasanter to the taste, but that which 

 was kept longer would take the salt bel- 

 ter." 



From the result of the experience in Eng- 

 land, and experience and observniion in this 

 country, it is weli ascertained, that acidity in 

 the cream is absolutely necessary before but- 

 ter can be produced. It is for this reason 

 that it is difficult to produce good butter in 

 winter. Heating the cream with warm Vv'a- 

 ter is a common practice, and it is a long 

 while before the butter is produced, and is 

 usually white, hard, and bitter, with very 

 little taste. The writer has, in times past, 

 in winter and spring, used a small quan- 

 tity of vinegar, which has never failed to 

 produce a good efi^ect. But the Epping prac- 

 tice of using rennet is recommended. If 

 acidity in the cream is necessary, and this is 

 acquired by standing, the ffillowing course is 

 suggested to prevent the churning of ??cw and 

 old cream at the same time. 



If the dairy is large and cream is churned 

 three times in the week, tour vessels to hold 

 cream should be provided, and two day's 

 cream put into one, say Monday's and Tues- 

 day's, and churned after the acidity has ta- 

 ken place, and the amount of the acidity 

 must be regulated by experience. — An ex- 

 tract from Dr. Anderson will close this 

 head. " The separation of butter from cream, 

 only tikes place after the cream has attained 

 a certain degree of acidity. If it is agitated 

 before the acidity has begun to take'^place, 

 no butter can he obtained, and the agitation 

 must be continued until the sourness is pro- 

 duced, after vvliich the butter begins to form. 

 In summer while the weather is warm, the 

 beating may be continued until the acidity is 

 produced, so that butter may bo got ; but in 

 this case the process is long and tedious, 

 and the butter for the most part, of a soft 

 consistence, and tough and gluey to the 

 touch. If this process is attempted during 

 the cold weather in the winter, butter can 

 scarcely be in any way obtained, unless by 



