1S6 ANIMAl.S AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 



It may be made tolerable. But if we wash fresb but- 

 ter, we wash away the part that is essential to its 

 richest flavor and to its preservation. No water should 

 be put into the churn, and none used in the process 

 of working. 



245. The butter should be taken from the churn 

 with a wooden ladle; should be worked with the 

 same ; when nearly all the buttermilk is worke.d out, 

 pure, fine salt should be added ; it should be salted to 

 the taste. More salt than is requisite to gratify the 

 average taste for this article, has no tendency to pre- 

 serve butter, but rather the reverse, unless the salt is 

 absolutely pure, which seldom happens. Most salt 

 contains a little lime and a little magnesia ; and when 

 this is the case, any more than enough to salt to the 

 taste, not only gives the butter a bitter flavor, but ac- 

 tually hastens its putrefaction. It is very important 

 that the best of salt, as pure as can be obtained, 

 should be used for butter. 



246. I will here lay down a rule by which the dairy- 

 man can tell whether his salt is sufficiently pure for the 

 purpose. To eight lbs. of salt, in a clean wooden ves- 

 sel, add one pint of boiling water ; let it stand an hour ; 

 pour it upon a thick strainer, and let the water pass 

 into another vessel. The lime and magnesia, if any 

 were present, have passed through in the water, to- 

 gether with a part of the salt — possibly a quarter of 

 the whole. What remains on the strainer is nearly 

 pure salt. Let that which has fallen into the vessel 

 be put into the catties' trough. There need be no 



