70 THE DAIRY OF THE FARM. 



maid having previously well rinsed her hands and arms in 

 cold water, and rubbed them with a little salt, placed the 

 whole mass either in a pan of cold spring water to harden, 

 or when no washing had been allowed, in a shallow empty 

 wooden vessel. In the latter case the butter was repeatedly 

 kneaded with the thick part of the open hand, and the 

 butter-milk separated by this pressure, and mopped up as 

 it appeared, with a canvas cloth which should be constantly 

 wrung dry. On the thorough separation of this butter- 

 milk depends a good deal of the keeping and sweetness of 

 the butter ; and though it involves more labour, it can be 

 done in this dry way by perseverance in kneading and 

 beating it with the cloth, and then mopping up the milky 

 liquid. The whole process is, however, now accomplished 

 by a revolving kneading apparatus referred to in a following 

 paragraph. When washed, the milk can with less labour 

 be equally well separated ; but excessive washing of butter 

 certainly separates some of that to which the fulness of its 

 flavour is due. If the churning is done too rapidly, the 

 buttery parts sometimes are not sufficiently viscous to 

 cohere, and the butter assumes a granular texture, which 

 renders it difficult to mould. The same fault sometimes 

 arises in the case of cream from the milk of cows that have 

 long calved. After a sufficient kneading or washing with 

 cool hands, finely powdered salt is added to it, according to 

 taste, certainly not more than 3 or 4 ounces per stone, and 

 well mixed with it by the hand ; the whole is then divided 

 out in half pounds, and made into rolls, lumps, or prints, 

 as the case may be. 



In the curing of butter, the object is to bring every 

 particle of the caseous ferment, present more or less in 

 all butter, into contact with salt, or sugar, or substances 



