158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



sils of the dairy are kept dry and svveet ; that the milk-room is well 

 ventilated — of a proper temperature, free from dampness and the 

 unpleasant smell generated by moisture ; that the cream is not suf- 

 fered to stand too long upon the milk, nor after skimmed ; that it be 

 churned at a proper temperature, the operation neither being hurried 

 unduly nor carried too far, that it be salted; not injured by the 

 addition of either sugar or saltpetre, and that all the buttermilk be 

 properly and effectually removed. 



None but the experienced and the successful dream to what nicety 

 attention to these things should be carried, and many are unaware 

 how much slight deviations from the true course affect the quality of 

 the article they manufacture. 



Butter is judged of by its color, aroma, taste and consistency. Its 

 color should be of a delicate pale straw, not approaching white, and 

 yet perhaps that is better than the deep orange tint almost always 

 sure indication of extraneous coloring matter. 



Every one recognizes that peculiar smell which is alwaj'^s given 

 off from the nicest butter. The better the quality of the butter the 

 more delicate is this smell, while as the quality of the article degen- 

 erates, in almost the same proportion does this aroma vary to that 

 which is positively offensive. This fragrance is dependent very much 

 upon the process of manufacture. 



No rule can be given by which the uninitiated can secure it ; for 

 the most skilful do not always succeed' in attaining it, though with 

 due care success is measurably certain. 



All know the high reputation of " Orange County " butter ; few 

 are aware how much that is made in other places is sold as from that 

 territory, and that the dairy maid of that county transferred to a dif- 

 ferent locality will still manufacture Orange County butter. 



Any inattention to the proper care of either the milk, cream, or 

 the vessels in which they are kept, will be betrayed by the taste of 

 the butter. So is the addition of any foreign matter, by which the 

 taste is to be affected, easily detected. 



Certain of the competitors will place to the account of the sugar 

 worked into their butter, their want of success in obtaining a pre- 

 mium. So far from improving the flavor, in the opinion of the com- 

 mittee, it materially impairs the proper taste of butter. 



From the sugar of milk and the sugar of commerce the same ulti- 

 mate is reached. But because the sugar cane yields a sweet, it does 

 not follow that its addition imparts the right sweet to butter. 



Some of the butter examined by the committee would have been 

 assigned a very different rank had not its sweet been so very decided. 



So, too, the quality of this article is injuriously affected by the too 



