BUTTER. 223 



oi her dairy will always command the first price in 

 the market. On the contrary, if the butter be white, 

 light, and porous ; full of particles of dirt, flies' legs, 

 cows' hairs, and other nameless abominati6ns ; 

 without being freed from the milk, and abounding in 

 particles of the curdled milk from which the cream 

 was taken, then the character of the dairy for neat- 

 ness may be marked as suspicious, and prices must 

 be arranged accordingly. The colour of butter is no 

 infallible test of goodness, though that which is mod- 

 erately yellow, other things being equal, will gener- 

 ally be preferred ; but, where the above-named qual- 

 ities are present, whether the butter be white or 

 yellow, its excellence may be relied on. The qual- 

 ity of butter, however, does not entirely depend on 

 the skill or neatness of the maker : much must he 

 allowed for the kind of pasture or other food allotted to 

 the cows. For pasture, clean turf, mostly composed 

 of white clover, and which has been lj>id down for a 

 number of years, will be found sweeter and better 

 than any other ; and of the roots, carrots will make 

 the best-coloured and best-flavoured butter. No 

 cow, however, kept entirely on roots, will produce 

 as good milk and butter as if fed partly on these and 

 partly on fresh grass or hay. 



Every dairy-woman is sensible that, to produce 

 the greatest quantity and the best quality of cream, 

 milk should be kept at a moderate temperature ; and 

 that the cream should be taken from the milk be- 

 fore the latter sours ; since, if it is allowed to be- 

 come thick, it is almost impossible to separate the 

 curdled particles that will be skimmed off from the 

 pure cream ; and these, remaining in the butter, seri- 

 ously injure its appearance, and render it unfit to keep. 

 The goodness of the butter depends on the temper- 

 ature of the cream while churning. This point, in 

 most dairies, is not sufficiently attended to ; or, if 

 noticed at all, it is only with reference to the speedy 

 formation of the butter. Cream grows warm from 



