322 THE BUTTER-MOULDS. 



THE FORM OF FRESH BUTTER. The form of the but- 

 ter is made by taking a suitable quantity and press- 

 ing it into a mould, and then taking it out by knocking 

 on the mould. Many different forms of butter-moulds 

 are in use in the different sections of Holland, such as 

 are shown in Figs. 115, 116, and others. 



Fig. 115. Fig. 116. 



The figures impressed on the butter are given by the 

 mould, where it is deeply engraved ; or they are made 

 after the butter is taken out of the mould, and for this pur- 

 pose a peculiar instrument is used, Fig. 117, a kind of flat 

 wooden spoon, with a short, convenient handle, 

 and long grooves in the broad, flat surface. Each 

 region has its own peculiar stamp, or special 

 figures, which are given to lump-butter, to which 

 particular attention is paid by the purchaser. 

 The butter-dealer knows exactly that in one 

 section butter is stamped in one way, in another 

 section in some other way ; and that the butter 

 of one section, with its peculiar stamp, is woith 

 Fig. 117. more than that of another. 

 The butter-moulds are generally made of linden-wood, 

 but must always be large enough to hold at least a cer- 

 tain prescribed weight of butter ; for all lump-butter 

 brought for sale to the weekly market must be of a 

 prescribed weight. This weight is very different, and 

 almost every city has different regulations and market 

 customs; yet, in most places, a pound is the legal 



