356 A DRUG IN THE MARKET. 



respect, that you will not discard them as worthless, 

 without first bringing them to the test of careful 

 experiment, when I trust they will be found correct. 



I have not written to establish any favorite theory, 

 but simply to inculcate truth, and to aid in developing 

 a most important branch of American industry, which, 

 either directly or indirectly, involves the investment 

 of a vast amount of capital, the aggregate profits of 

 which depend so largely on your judgment and skill. 



I need not remind you that any addition, however 

 small, to the market value of each pound of butter or 

 cheese, will largely increase the annual income of your 

 establishment. Nor need I remind you that these arti- 

 cles are generally the last of either the luxuries or 

 the necessaries of life in which city customers are will- 

 ing to economize. They must and will have a good 

 article, and are ready to pay for it in proportion to its 

 goodness ; or, if they desire to economize in butter, it 

 will be in the quantity rather than the quality. 



Poor butter is a drug in the market. Nobody wants 

 it, and the dealer often finds it difficult to get it oft' his 

 hands, when a delicate and finely-flavored article attracts 

 attention and secures a ready sale. Some say that poor 

 butter will do for cooking. But a good steak or mutton- 

 chop is too expensive to allow any one to spoil it by the 

 use of a poor quality of butter ; and good pastry-cooks 

 will tell you that cakes and pies cannot be made without 

 good sweet butter, and plenty of it. These dishes rel- 

 ish too well, when properly cooked with nice butter, for 

 any one to tolerate the use of poor butter in them. 



On page 220 and elsewhere, I have dwelt on the 

 necessity of extreme cleanliness in all the operations 

 of the dairy ; and this is the basis and fundamental prin- 

 ciple of your business. I would not suppose, for a 

 moment, that you are lacking in this respect. The 



