290 THE 



cause the disgustiog rancidity which makes bad butter 

 so obnoxious and totally unfit for use, and reduce it far 

 below the so-called bogus butter which is the bugbear 

 and enemy of the dairyman. 



The preservation of butter is effected not only by the| 

 removal from it of these obnoxious elements, but also by., 

 the addition of some antiseptic substances. Salt is most 

 commonly used for this purpose, and this is quite suffi- 

 cient for pure, well-made butter; but for the neutralizing 

 of impure influences in poor butter, or for concealing the 

 undesirable flavor of it, borax, saltpeter, and sugar are 

 often used, with reasonably good results, considering the 

 difficulty of the operation of reforming bad butter. 



Salting and packing butter for sale are two important 

 parts of the business. Salt is a preservative of butter, 

 notwithstanding the statement to the contrary made by 

 persons who evidently do not understand the nature of 

 salt and the action of antiseptics or the character of 

 butter. 



Salting butter, however, is a nice operation, and re- 

 quires a good deal of knowledge and care. The salt 

 should be absolutely pure, and be ground as finely as 

 possible. In our dairy, although using the finest Eng- 

 lish dairy salt, we ground it over again in a small hand 

 buhr-stone mill, until it was an impalpable powder, and 

 dissolved so quickly on the tongue as to leave no sense 

 of grittiness to the teeth in less than a minute. The 

 butter is salted at the rate of one ounce to the pound, 

 as has been previously described, and after having stood 

 twenty-four hours on the working table, during which 

 time it gradually drains off the surplus water, it is 

 worked over for packing. 



In its granular condition it consists of a mass of 

 rounded particles, with brine occupying the interstices, 

 and the working consists of pressing the mass in thin 

 sheets or slices so as to squeeze the grains close together 



