137 



VII.— BUTTER, MILK. CHEESE. 



WESTMORLAND butter in the early years of this century would 

 appear to have had a high reputation for quality, and this no 

 doubt must be attributed to the sweet herby nature of the pastures 

 rather than to the method of making or the conditions under which the 

 milk is kept. The old up and down churn was in common use till well 

 into the forties, and the cream which in the small dairies was kept for 

 long periods was religiously stirred with a stick from the Rowan tree 

 to prevent its being witched. 



In 1817 an Act (57 Geo. III., c. 25) was passed exempting a dairy 

 or cheese store from the tax on windows. About this time wood 

 cisterns were used for settling milk, then in sequence followed earthen- 

 ware, and about 1830 lead pans were used on the supposition that 

 they threw up more cream, but now tin pans are in general use, where 

 the separator is not used. The separator was first introduced into 

 Crosthwaite in 1895 and it has now found its way even into many of 

 the smaller farms, it having been shown that one pound of butter more 

 per cow per week could be obtained by its use. 



From time out of memory Westmorland butter has been salted 

 and put up in firkins of 56 lbs. In 1813, in order to protect the interests 

 of Westmorland farmers, a notice was issued by the Mayor of Kendal 

 for them to brand their butter on the top and sides in order to prevent 

 fraud by the dealers. It was not till about i860 that any of the Agri- 

 cultural Societies offered prizes for butter other than in firkins, but the 

 laying do\vn of butter with salt since that date has rapidly declined 

 and as a custom may be said not to exist to-day. When butter was 

 sold by the pound in the markets the weight of the pound varied from 

 16 to 20 ounces as shewn by the examinations of the market inspectors 

 about 1835, when they had the " tryer " in operation. 



In the making of butter but httle change had taken place before 

 the two last decades of the century were reached. The end-over-end 

 chum and mechanical butter makers now used by many of the best 

 farmers, are the direct result of the County Council lectures and 

 demonstrations on butter making. 



