250 MODERK DAIRY PRACTICE. 



Manetti in Milano has made lengthy experiments to 

 preserve the butter by exhausting the air from it. It was 

 very difficult to apply the method to practical conditions, 

 and the butter assumed a spongy consistency, greatly injur- 

 ing its commercial value. 



Musso and Manetti in Lodi state that an admixture of 

 one gram salicylic acid to one kilogram of butter is able to 

 check the butyric-acid fermentation without changing the 

 taste and appearance of the butter, and they direct to add 

 the acid in washing the butter. According to Bersch a 

 salicylic-acid solution of two to three grams salicyclic acid 

 per liter is preferable to common water for washing the 

 butter. He even recommends keeping the butter in such 

 a solution. Boracic acid and borax have also been recom- 

 mended for increasing the keeping quality of butter, but 

 they seem to give it a bitter taste. 



An admixture of such antiseptics must, however, as 

 previously shown' (p. 145), be considered an adulteration, 

 especially if it takes place without the knowledge of the 

 buyer.* 



The salting of the butter is an entirely different matter; 

 the fact of its being used is not disclosed for the public, and 

 each buyer may easily satisfy himself concerning its pres- 

 ence. The great majority of people, moreover, demand salt 

 in their butter. [The same applies to the use of butter 

 color during the greater portion of the year. W.] 



Canning Butter. Eather than applying special anti- 

 septics, as salicylic and boracic acid, etc., for the preserva- 

 tion of butter, it may be preserved by being hermetically 



* As is the case in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred under 

 present conditions. Concerning the admixture of preservatives to 

 food articles, see p. 146, foot-note. W. 



