COMMERCIAL TESTING OF BUTTER AND CHEESE 165 



more uniform results if there could be agreed upon 

 a certain shade of color which should serve as a na- 

 tional standard as far as possible. Such a color stand- 

 ard could be furnished butter-makers and examiners 

 of butter. Along with such a standard color, there 

 could be prepared a scale of shades which could serve 

 as a basis for scoring color. 



Terms describing color. The terms used in de- 

 scribing the color of butter are.: (i) perfect, (2) light, 

 (3) high, (4) reddish, (5) mottled, and (6) white- 

 specked. 



1 i ) Perfect color in butter is a straw-yellow, bright, 

 and uniform throughout the mass. A plug of butter 

 held between the light and the eye should be evenly 

 translucent and not opaque or cloudy. 



(2) Light color is shown by insufficient color, the 

 yellow being too pale. 



(3) High color is deeper yellow than called for by 

 perfect color. 



(4) Reddish color is self-explanatory and is due to 

 excessive use of coloring material. 



(5) Mottled color in butter is shown by the appear- 

 ance of light-colored portions, which may be in spots 

 or streaks or waves. The term wavy is often used to 

 indicate a variation of color that is just perceptible. 

 They are not seen as readily on a sample plug drawn 

 by a trier as they can be by cutting a lump of butter 

 across so as to show a smooth, broad surface. Slight 

 mottling is apt to escape observation when the exam- 

 ination is made only of a plug. Mottling is due to 

 the action of salt upon buttermilk retained in the but- 

 ter. The light portions owe their color to the pres- 



