THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 177 



a proper consistency, it is divided into portions of the weight 

 required, if it is intended to be sold fresh. But the greatest 

 part of the butter that is made, especially at a distance from 

 large towns, is immediately salted and put into casks, which 

 usually contain fifty-six pounds, and are called firkins. The 

 quality of the salt used is of great importance ; if it be 

 pure, the butter will keep its flavour a long time, but when it 

 is impure and contains bitter and deliquescent salts the butter 

 soon becomes rancid. The Dutch are very particular in this 

 point. They use a kind of salt which is made by slow 

 evaporation, and perfectly crystallised. The salt is intimately 

 mixed with the butter. From 3 to 5 Ibs. are sufficient for a 

 firkin of 56 Ibs.* The casks are made of clean white wood. 

 They are carefully washed inside with strong brine made hot, 

 and rubbed over with salt. The butter, being quite dry, is 

 pressed close into the cask, a small layer of salt having been 

 first put on the bottom. Every addition is carefully incor- 

 porated with the preceding portion. If there is not a sufficient 

 quantity to fill the cask at once, the surface is made smooth, 

 some salt is put over it, and a cloth is pressed close upon it to 

 exclude the air. When the remainder is added, at the next 

 churning, the cloth is taken off, and the salt, which had been 

 put on the surface, is carefully removed with a spoon. The 

 surface is dug into with a small wooden spade, and laid rough, 

 and the newly salted butter is added and incorporated com- 

 pletely. This prevents a streak, which would otherwise 

 appear at the place where the two portions joined. When 

 the cask, is full some salt is put over it, and the head is put in. 

 If the butter was well freed from all the butter-milk, and the 

 salt mixed with it was quite dry, it will not shrink in the cask, 

 and it will keep its flavour for a long time. Should there be 

 an appearance of shrinking, the cask must be opened, and 

 melted butter poured round it so as to fill up the interstices 

 between the butter and the cask. There is a mode of 

 preserving butter for domestic use without salt, in the 

 following manner : The butter is set in a clean pan over the 

 fire, and melted very gently ; it is not allowed to boil, but is 

 heated very nearly to the boiling point. Experience has shown 

 this heat to be attained when the reflection of the white of the 

 eye is distinctly seen on the surface of the butter on looking 



* The following mixture has been found superior to salt alone in curing 

 butter: half an ounce of dry salt pounded fine, two drachms of sugar, and 

 two drachms of saltpetre, for every pound of butter. 



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