BUTTER. 



into the dairy, is strained through a i 

 fine sieve or cloth, in order to remove 

 any extraneous matter, and it is then 

 poured into shallow pans or troughs. 

 The best pans are of iron, carefully 

 tinned. Such pans are cool in sum- 

 mer, and in winter allow of the appli- 

 cation of heat, which is often very 

 useful to make the cream rise. "When 

 leaden troughs are used, they are 

 generally fixed to the'wall, and have 

 a slight inclination towards one end, 

 where there is a hole with a plug in 

 it, by drawing which the thin milk is 

 allowed to run off slowly, leaving the 

 cream behind, which runs last through 

 the hole into the pan placed under to 

 receive it. The milk in the pans, or 

 troughs, is generally four or five inch- 

 es in depth, which is found most con- ' 

 ducive to the separation of the cream. 

 The place where the milk is set should 

 have a thorough draught of air, by 

 means of opposite windows. The 

 sun should be carefully excluded by 

 high buildings or trees, and the floor, , 

 which should always be of brick or 

 stone, should be continually kept 

 moist in summer, that the evapora- 

 tion may produce an equal, cool tem- 

 perature. A small stove in winter is 

 a great advantage, provided smoke 

 and smell be most carefully avoided, 

 and the temperature be accurately 

 regulated by a thermometer. All 

 these minutiae may appear superflu- 

 ous to those who have no practical 

 knowledge of the dairy ; and many 

 dairymen, who cannot deny the truth 

 of what we have stated, may excuse 

 their deviation from these rules by , 

 saying that good butter is made with- 

 out so much care and trouble. This 

 may be true ; but they cannot ensure 

 good butter at all tiines ; and when 

 cleanliness and order are brought to a 

 regular system the trouble disappears. 

 When' the milk has stood twelve 

 hours, the finest parts of the cream 

 have risen to the surface, and if they 

 are then taken olT by a skimming 

 dish, and immediately churned, a very 

 delicate butter is obtained ; but, in 

 general, it is left twenty-four hours, 

 when the cream is collected by skim- 

 ming, or the thin miik let off by ta- , 

 L 



king out the plug in the trough. All 

 the cream is put into a deep earthen 

 jar. Stone-ware is the best. More 

 cream is added every day, till there is 

 a sufficient quantity to churn, which, 

 in moderate dairies, is every two 

 days. It is usual to stir the cream 

 often, to encourage a slight acidity, 

 by which the process of churning is 

 accelerated. This acidity is some- 

 times produced by the addition of 

 vinegar or lemon juice ; but, howev- 

 er this may facilitate the conversion 

 of the cream into butter, we would 

 not recommend it, as the quality is 

 decidedly injured by it, especially 

 butter which is to be salted. It has 

 been asserted by some authors that 

 butter will not separate from the but- 

 ter-milk until acidity is produced, and 

 no doubt there is more or less of 

 lactic acid in all butter-milk ; but per- 

 fectly fresh cream, which has stood 

 only one night, and is churned early 

 next morning, will generally produce 

 excellent butter in a quarter of an 

 hour or twenty minutes in summer, 

 and no acid taste can be discovered 

 in the butter-milk. That the state 

 of the atmosphere with respect to 

 temperature has a powerful influence 

 on the making of butter, is a well- 

 established fact. 



The common method employed to 

 separate the butter from the thinner 

 portion of the cream is by strong 

 agitation. The common instrument 

 is the churn, which is a wooden cask 

 rather wider at bottom than at the 

 top, covered with a round lid with a 

 hole in the centre. Through this 

 hole passes a round stick, about four 

 feet long, inserted in the centre of a 

 round, flat board with holes in it ; 

 the diameter of this board is a little 

 less than that of the top of the churn. 

 Various improvements have been 

 made on this machine. The cream 

 should not fill above two thirds of the 

 churn. By means of this stick, held 

 in both hands, and moved up and 

 down, the cream is violently agitated, 

 passing through the holes in the board 

 and round its edge every time the 

 stick is raised or depressed, and thus 

 every portion is brought into contact 



121 



