226 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



is intended to be kept any time, an ounce of good 

 fine salt to a pound of butter is tlie proper propor- 

 tion ; but, where it is not intended to be kept, less 

 may be used, according to the taste of the maker. 

 Some persons have recommended, that to a pound 

 of salt should be added four ounces of finely-pulver- 

 ized loaf-sugar. We have tried this metiiod, and 

 found the butter admirable. Dr. Anderson says, 

 " In Ireland (and few countries equal some parts of 

 Ireland in the fine qualities of the butter) the use of 

 salt and saltpetre is recommended, in the proportion 

 of one ounce of fine rock salt and one fifth of an 

 ounce of saltpetre to twenty-eight ounces of butter." 

 None but the finest and purest salt should be used, 

 as every extraneous matter injures its quality, and 

 produces a corresponding eff"ect on the butter. 



Large quantities of butter are annually imported 

 into England from Holland, and some from the 

 same country has occasionally found its way into 

 this. It is justly celebrated for its superior quality, 

 and its power of resisting decomposition, or not be- 

 ing liable to become rancid. In the Dutch dairies 

 everything is conducted with a system and neatness, 

 from the feeding of the cows to the completion of 

 the butter, worthy of all imitation and praise. That 

 there is anything in the climate or pastures of Hol- 

 land which renders their dairy products superior to 

 those of the rest of Europe or to ours, is not to be 

 supposed : the difterence is clearly in the manipula- 

 tion ; and, were our butter and cheese in general 

 made with as much skill and oere as in Holland, we 

 might successfully compete with the Dutch in the 

 "West Indies and other markets, to which our butter 

 will now barely pay the cost of transportation. Ac- 

 cording to the report df Mr. Mitchell, made to the 

 Highland Society of Scotland, the process in the 

 Dutch dairies is substantially as follows : The 

 milk, when taken from the cow, is poured into large 

 earthen p'tchers, and placed in a vat of cold water. 



