302 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



disposed the oily matter to cohere, an incipient running 

 together of the globules has probably taken place before the 

 cream is removed from the milk, and hence the comparative 

 ease with which the churning is effected. There is some- 

 thing peculiar in butter prepared in this way, as it is known 

 in other countries by the name of Bohemian butter. It 

 is said to be very agreeable in flavor, but it must contain 

 more cheesy matter than the butter from ordinary cream. 



Churning the whole milk is a much more laborious method, 

 from the difficulty of keeping in motion such large quantities 

 of fluid. It has the advantage, however, of giving a larger 

 quantity of butter. At Renncs, in Brittany, the milk of the 

 previous evening is poured into the churn along with the 

 warm morning's milk, and the mixture is allowed to stand for 

 some hours, when the whole is churned. In this way it is 

 said that a larger quantity of butter is obtained, and of a 

 more delicate flavor. In the neighborhood of Glasgow, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Ay ton, the milk is allowed to stand six, twelve 

 or twenty-four hours in the dairy, till the whole has cooled, 

 and the cream has risen to the surface. Two or three milk- 

 ings, still sweet, are then poured, together with their cream, 

 into a large vessel, and are left undisturbed till the whole has 

 become quite sour, and is completely coagulated. The proper 

 sourness is indicated by the formation of a stiff brat upon the 

 surface which has become uneven. Great care must be taken 

 to keep the brat and curd unbroken until the milk is about to 

 be churned, for if any of the whey be separated the air gains 

 admission to it and to the curd, and fermentation is induced. 

 By this fermentation the quality of the butter may or may 

 not be affected, but that of the butter-milk is almost sure to 

 be injured. In Holland the practice is a little different. The 

 cream is not allowed to rise to the surface at all, but the milk 

 is stirred two or three times a day, till it gets sour, and so 

 thick that a wooden spoon will stand in it. It is then put 

 into the churn, and the working or the separation of the but- 

 ter is assisted by the addition of a quantity of cold water. 

 By churning the sour milk in one or other of these Ways, the 

 butter is said to be 'rich, sound, and well-flavored.' If it be 

 greater in quantity it is, according to Sprengel, because the 

 fatty matter carries with it from the milk a larger quantity of 

 casein than it does in most cases from the cream alone. 



Sourness of tlie cream. For the production of the best 

 butter it is necessary that the cream should be sufficiently 

 sour before it is put into the churn. Butter made from sweet 



