Reports of Committees. 31 



Brown Bread, Miss M. Hathaway, South Adams, $4 



" Mrs. Arthur Royce, Lanesboro, 3 



" Mrs. John Dudley, South Adams, 2 



" L. M. Campbell, New Lenox, 1 



Biscuit, Mrs. Brodhead, Pittsfield, 4 



" Mrs. Stephen H. Baker, Lenox, 3 



" Mrs. Geo. Judd, Lenox, 2 



" Mrs. Franklin Barnes, Richmond, 1 



Graham Bread, Mrs. M. S. Heath, Stockbridge, 4 



" Belle Hadsell, Hancock, 3 



Mrs. D. R. Himes, Pittsfield, 2 



Miss M. Smith, Dalton, 1 



A. J. Buckxin, Chairman. 



BUTTER. 



The committee on butter, consisting of Miles Avery, John B. Wells and Thomas 

 Colt, take pleasure in stating that the sixty-two specimens offered for the Society's 

 premiums and examined, were all, or nearly all, of such excellence as to reflect great 

 credit on the butter makers of Western Massachusetts. This is a subject that many 

 learned writers have written upon, and so clearly elucidated their various methods 

 in the manufacture, that there seems to be but little room for a more extended 

 thought of improvement ; yet when we take into consideration the vast amount of 

 that article consumed by the people of New England, we see it is a subject that very 

 materially interests us all ; for I believe that there is no one commodity that is more 

 susceptible to our palates and tastes than this, and how much there is thrown upon 

 the market that is worthless or nearly so, from the simple fact that the art of making 

 a good article is not pi'operly understood by many. Yet the failure is not in all 

 cases strictly chargeable to the incompetency of the maker or dairymaid ; for there 

 is vastly more depending on the cow which supplies the milk from which it is made, 

 and the food that she eats, than the most of us are willing to admit or make due 

 allowance for. It is an established fact that the milk of some cows is deficient in 

 one or more properties that are requisite to make sweet and delicious butter, though 

 they may give a large flow of milk and rank number one in the cheese department. 

 I will here simply state that in former years our occupation was what we termed a 

 practical farmer's and dairyman's, and give our system of making butter. First, 

 and not least, cleanliness in all things relative to our vocation should be strictly ob- 

 served, for without this necessary precaution you cannot make a good article. In 

 warm weather fill the pans about two-thirds full of milk, and set them in a cool 

 milk room. Place them in a vat or sink about six inches deep, then let a stream of 

 cool water in until it stands two or three inches deep in the sink and around the 

 pans ; let them remain until the sink or vat is wanted for the succeeding milking, 

 then remove the pans to shelves and let them stand for thirty-six hours from the 

 time of filling. (I know some will demure from this theory, and would prefer good 

 fresh cool air. I am not writing from theory or a wide stretch of imagination, but 

 from actual experience.) Adopt this course only in extremely warm weather. In 

 the spring and early fall omit the flow of water around the pans. In cold weather 

 place the pans on the stove or furnace and heat until the cream becomes waved or 



