OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 207 



pots are then to be set in a cool place till the butter is taken 

 out and made into lumps for market or home consumption. 



Another way in which butter may be preserved a long 

 time, is, by melting it in a pot at a very low degree of heat, 

 skimming from the surface a thin layer of curd which will 

 form upon it, and when this no longer collects, withdrawing 

 it to cool and harden. 



When the juices of fruits are to be preserved for food, 

 sugar is used instead of salt ; this possesses the double ad- 

 vantage of correcting the acid of fruits, and of incorpo- 

 rating better with them. Sugar improves the quality of the 

 juices as much as salt would injure them, and as this last 

 cannot be extracted, they could not be used as articles of 

 nourishment. 



The preparations formed with sugar are jellies and sirups ; 

 the first are the most concentrated, and serve as food ; the 

 latter mix easily with water, and are generally employed as 

 drinks. 



After the juices are expressed, clarified, and strained, 

 there must be added to them a suitable portion of sugar : 

 most of them require an equal weight : they must then be 

 boiled gently till sufficiently evaporated, and the operation 

 completed by clarifying the liquor, which is thus rendered 

 more agreeable to the eye. 



CHAPTER XL 



OF MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



There is no product of a farm which contributes more 

 towards the prosperity of the establishment than milk; 

 not only does it form in itself one of the most important 

 articles of food for the family, but the sale of a portion of 

 it, either in its natural state, or made into butter or cheese, 

 furnishes a daily income, from which nearly all the inter- 

 nal wants of a household may be supplied : I therefore 

 think it will not be departing from my subject to devote 

 one chapter in this work to an object of so much impor- 

 tance. Milk appears to me to be one of the least animal- 

 ized portions of the animal kingdom. The various kinds, 

 of food taken by animals affording milk, give to it various 



