No. 11. 



The Dairy. 



337 



Butter thus cured would bear to be carried 

 to the East or the \V^•l^t liidicp, and woiikl 

 keep sweet during the lonjrest voyaa'cs, if it 

 were so packed as not to allow the butter to 

 be so far melted as to occasion the £?.lts to 

 separate from it. But as none of these salts 

 admit of any chemical union with tlie butter, 

 it must happen that if ever the butter be so 

 far melted as to become of a fluid con.-^i.stence, 

 t!ie salts drop to the bottom, and the butter, 

 deprived of their antiseptic powers, quickly 

 becomes rancid. It would be a cfreat im- 

 provement in the culinary art, if any anti- 

 septic substance could be tbuiid tiiat pos- 

 sessed any agreeable taste and flavor, wliich 

 was capable of beinij dissolved in oily sub- 

 stances. This miirlit afiord a proper subject 

 fijr a premium by Atrricultural Societies. In 

 the mean time tlie following hints on this 

 subject may be of some use. 



Butter, in its natural state, contains a con- 

 siderable proportion of mucous matter, wliich 

 is more highly putre.scible than the pure oily 

 parts of the butter. Where it is, therefore, 

 intended that butter .should be exposed to the 

 heat of warm climates, it ought to be freed 

 from that mucilage before it be cured and 

 packed up for keeping. To prepare bniter 

 for a distant voyage, therefore, in warm cli- 

 mates, let it be put into a vessel of a proper 

 shape, which should be immersed into ano- 

 ther containing water. Let the water bo 

 gradually heated till the butter be thorouglily 

 melted; let it continue in that state for some 

 time, and allow it to settle; the mucous part 

 will fall entirely to the bottom, and the pure 

 oil will swim at top, perfectly transparent j! 

 while hot, but when it cools it becomes opaque, i ! 

 assumes a color somewhat paler than tlie ori-l 

 ginal butter before it was melted, and a firm-', 

 er consistence, more neatly resembling that!! 

 of tallow, and consequently it will better re-!i 

 sist the heat of a warm climate than butter IJ 

 itself. When this refined butter is become 

 a little stiffj and while it still is somewhat 

 soft, the pure part should be separated from 

 the dregs, and then salted, and packed up in 

 the same way as is directed for butter. This 

 would retain the salt longer and keep much 

 longer sweet, in hot climates, than if it had 

 been cured in its original state. 



This refined butter may be preserved in 

 yet another way, which I have sometimes 

 seen practised here by way of medical hnnne 

 bouche (comfit.) After the butter is purified, 



vessfl is opened let a strong brine of common salt be 

 prepnreil that will swim an p-is. and ponre.l. when 

 cold, upon the surface of the butter; this will cover 

 that surface offectunlly, even (hontfli the op.^rator 

 should be a little careless, and will thus iruanl against 

 the inconvenience oomplainad of: for thoush the qual- 

 ity of the butter will thus be injured in some decree, 

 in consequence of ilie water actina upon it, ycl th.it is 

 an evil of far l"ss material moment than the s!i;;htest 

 <legree of rancidity would occasion. 



add to it a certain proportion of firm honey, 

 mi.\: it well, it will incorporate thoroughly 

 with the butter, and when cold it eats very plea- 

 santly spread on bread like butter; and iiiav 

 be given to old people, if they relish it, instead 

 of marrow, and to others as being useful for 

 coughs and colds. These were the uses to 

 which I have seen this substance applied, and 

 on these occasions the proportion of honey 

 employed was considerable. I have seen it 

 kept for years, without manifesting the small- 

 e.-t tendency to rancidity, so that there c'ln 

 be no doubt but that butter might lhl^i be pre- 

 served in long voyages without spoiling. — 

 Tlie only point that remains to be ascertained 

 is, what is the smallest proportion of honey 

 that would be sufficient to preserve the but- 

 ter.. Sugar is known to be a much more 

 powerful antiseptic than common salt, and 

 probably honey may be in tliat respect nearly 

 on a par with sugar. It so, it would be rea- 

 sonable to suppo.se that one ounce.of honey 

 might be sufficient to preserve sixteen ounces 

 of butter. In that case the taste of the honey 

 would not be extremely perceptible, -so tliat 

 the butter, even to those who might not relish 

 the sweet composition above mentioned, might 

 prove very agreeable, especially if a little 

 salt were mi.xed with it when about to bo 

 used. A few experiments would be sufficient 

 to ascertain this particular. 



From the circumstance of the honey incor- 

 porating with the butter, and not separating' 

 from it while in a fluid state, it would pro- 

 mise nearly to accomplish the purpose wanted 

 above. Whether, when it became very fluid, 

 and was long continued in that state, any 

 separation would take place; or whether the 

 honey in these circumstances would be in 

 danger of fermenting, are questions that ex- 

 perience alone can determine. Sugar, though 

 it would preserve the butter equally well 

 while it continued in a solid state, would 

 doubtless separate from it when it became 

 fluid. Whether molasses would do so, or 

 what effects they would in this case produce, 

 I cannot tell; but a few experiments would 

 ascertain these points. Should any method 

 of preserving butter in warm climates be dis- 

 covered, it would be productive of so many 

 benefits to individuals, and to the nation at 

 large, by giving an opening for a new branch 

 of commerce and manufacture, that it is much 

 to be wished the few experiments wanted to 

 ascertain these points were made, with such 

 caro, under the direction of persons who 

 would faithfully report tiie result to the pub- 

 lic, as .should be sufficient to remove all doubts 

 upon this head. 



F. S. The greatest part of the observations 

 contained in the fiirefroing pages, were de- 

 rived from a lady, who is now beyond the 

 reach of being attected by any thing in this 



