184 DAIRY FARMING 



172. Flavor. The proper flavor is hard to describe, but 

 may be said to be a pure butter taste and odor. It should 

 be entirely free from any other taste, such as might be de- 

 scribed as rancid, stale, or strong. The flavor of the butter, 

 whether it be good or bad, in at least nine cases out of ten, 

 is produced during the souring, or ripening, of the cream. 

 There are a few exceptions to this rule. A few feeds, such 

 as onions, turnips, or new rye pasture, will give a taste to 

 butter. In a few cases, butter made from the milk of a cow 

 near the end of her milking period, has a slightly objection- 

 able taste. 



173. Body, Color, and Salt. Body, color, salt, and pack- 

 age may be said to depend upon mechanical conditions. 

 They are entirely under the control of the butter maker, pro- 

 vided suitable facilities are at hand. Faults in these quali- 

 ties are not to be attributed to the feed, breed, or season of 

 the year. 



The body should be. waxy and firm, but not brittle or 

 salvy. It should not stick to the knife when cut, neither 

 should it crumble. Proper body results from having the 

 churning temperature right, stopping the churning at the 

 right stage, and working the butter the proper amount. 



The color should be that of butter produced by cows on 

 pasture. During the season when dry feed is used, a suffi- 

 cient amount of vegetable coloring should be added to the 

 cream to give the proper shade of yellow. The most com- 

 mon defects in color are having it too high or too low, or 

 having a streaky or uneven color known as mottles. The 

 latter condition is due to uneven distribution of the salt, a 

 result of insufficient working. 



The salt should be sufficient so that a person eating the 

 butter does not notice either a deficiency or an excess. In 



