DAIRY CATTLE 



485 



excess of buttermilk and water. The 

 grain of the butter is injured by over- 

 working and as soon as the surplus but- 

 termilk is removed and tbe salt uniform- 

 ly mixed through the butter, any further 

 working injures the quality of the but- 

 ter. According to McKay and Larsen, 

 about 12 revolutions of a combined 

 revolving churn and butter worker are 

 sufficient to distribute the salt evenly. 

 The salt may be added while the butter 

 is in a granular form and the churn 

 revolved a few times, after which it is 

 allowed to stand for five to 10 minutes 

 and then revolved four or five times 

 again. It is better, however, to wait 

 until the butter is collected into coarse 

 granules before the salt is added. If but- 

 ter is slightly too warm when churned, 

 it should not be cooled down rapidly, 

 since this will injure its texture and 

 an inferior grain will show in the fin- 



Fig. 311 BUTTER WORKER 



ished product. As a rule, from % ounce 

 to 1 ounce of salt should be added for 

 each pound of butter during the process 

 of working, but the amount varies ac- 

 cording to the demands of customers 

 from a mere trace to 2 ounces to the 

 pound. The salt should be dry and in 

 a finely granular condition. Equally 

 good results may be obtained by dis 

 solving the salt in water before adding 

 it to the butter and using it in the form 

 of a brine. 



Packing butter_As soon as butter is 

 properly worked it may be packed m 

 tubs varying in size from 10 to 60 

 pounds. The large size is chiefly used 

 in creameries. If the butter is intended 

 for immediate use, it may be allowed to 

 contain somewhat more water than if it 

 is to be stored for long keeping. The 

 objection to a large amount of water 

 in butter is that when kept long in tubs, 

 the water evaporates from the surface 



and leaves a deposition of salt in the 

 top of the butter. It is generally con- 

 sidered that well made tubs of ash or 

 oak are the best packages for butter. 

 Earthenware crocks are heavy and liable 

 to break in shipment and tin packages 

 are objectionable on account of the fact 

 that the salt affects the metal. Tubs, 

 if stored when not in use in damp 

 places, are very likely to become moldy, 

 and if allowed to dry out too much, they 

 may let in air and permit too great an 

 amount of evaporation from the butter. 

 The best way of making the tubs tight 

 and destroying all mold and disagree- 

 able odor in the tubs before the butter 

 is packed in them, consists in soaking 

 them in a saturated solution of brine. 



Composition of butter — The average 

 composition of butter as determined 

 from a large number of analyses is, fat, 

 84 per cent; water, 12.73 per cent; curd, 

 1.3 per cent; salt and ash 1.97 per cent. 

 Occasionally the curd may run as high 

 as 4 per cent, but is rarely more than 

 2 per cent. The water content may vary 

 from 6 to 16 per cent ; a greater amount 

 than 16 per cent would be in violation 

 of the law. It has been determined 

 that water may be present in butter to 

 the extent of 18 per cent or more with- 

 out injuring its quality. 



Cheese making on the farm — As al- 

 ready indicated, relatively less cheese is 

 made on the farm at present than in the 

 early history of dairy development in 

 this country. This is largely due to the 

 fact that in cheese factories a better 

 quality of cheese is manufactured and 

 a far greater variety. It is only under 

 exceptional conditions that the farmer 

 can undertake the manufacture of any 

 except farm dairy cheese. The methods 

 used in factories are not applicable to 

 the farm dairy, for the reason that it 

 takes too much time and is so com- 

 plicated that the average dairyman is 

 not familiar with the details. The 

 necessary processes involved in the man- 

 ufacture of farm dairy cheese have been 

 well summarized by Alvord and are 

 briefly described in the following par- 

 agraphs. 



The milk should be aerated by pour- 

 ing from one vessel to another whil it 

 is still fresh and warm. It may then 

 be placed in a vat or wash boiler and 

 colored, if more than the natural color 

 of the cheese is desired. For this pur- 

 pose a teaspoonful of cheese color for 



