232 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



Quest. 6th. What is your method of packing and 

 preparing butter for preservation or sn'lr ] 



We pack our butter in firkins made of wtiite-oak 

 heart-stuff", well iiooped with round walnut Loops, 

 and holding about ninety pounds each. We soak 

 them thoroughly in brine previous to using, and put 

 in a trifle of saltpetre. The same brine, with a lit- 

 tle renewing, will answer for soaking five or six fir- 

 kins. When the butter has been worked sufficient- 

 ly, we immediately pack it in a firkin as hard as pos- 

 sible, and the sooner the firkin is filled the better. 

 As soon as the firkin is full, we put a clean white 

 cloth over the butter, and cover the cloth with about 

 three fourths of an inch of common fine salt, packed 

 hard. The firkin is then covered with a thin, flat 

 stone, which remains until the butter is taken to 

 nmrket. This method of packing, and keeping in a 

 clean, cool cellar, we have found perfectly satisfac- 

 tory.* 



Quest. Ith. What cows do you prefer for the dairy? 



So far as our experience extends, for butter we 



become general. It may be remarked, that a less quantity of 

 salt is used by Mr. Gilbert than by most dealers in the article, 

 or than has been recommended by foreign writers on the subject 

 of butter-making. 



* The method of packing preferred by Mr. Gilbert, and in 

 which he has been very successful, differs from the ordinary 

 practice chiefly in covering the butter in the firkin with the 

 cloth and the fine, closely-packed salt instead of brine. As the 

 great object is to keep the butter cool and to exclude the air, 

 either method, if well conducted, will be sufficient ; but we 

 think the chance would be in favour of the salt, especially when 

 aided by the stone, a most efficient agent in reducing the tem- 

 jjerature, and for that purpose far prelerable to the head of the 

 firkin or a piece of board. The heart of the oak is undoubtedly 

 one of the best unprepared wo9ds that can be used for firkins; 

 but as all such woods contain more or less of the pyroligneous 

 acid, which has a pernicious effect, as far as it extends, m de- 

 composing the salt of the butter and impartjng a disagreeable 

 flavour, it is evident that the process of boiling the staves for a 

 few hours, by which the acid would be extracted, would be a 

 decided improvement in their manufacture. 



