198 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



April 



BUTTER-MAKINQ. 



OMEWHERE I read a statement 

 that the editor of the Farmer 

 said in a recent meeting of far- 

 '^l~j\ mers, that "not more than one 

 sf tuh of butter in ten sent to Boston 

 market is really a choice article ;" or 

 in other w( rds, nine tubs, on the aver- 

 age, out of every ten are of inferior 

 quality. I have not the report at hand 

 and do not quote the precise language. 

 Now if this is true, I wish the editor, 

 or some one who knows, would tell us the reason 

 of this inferiority. Is the fault in the making, 

 the packing, or the storing ? Is it in the flavor, the 

 color, or the salting f Is it in the milk, the place 

 of setting, length of time it remains before skim- 

 ming, in keeping the cream, time and manner of 

 churning, mode of working after churning, or 

 what ? Tell us precisely, and in detail, the reasons. 

 The butter interest is of too great magnitude 

 to be neglected. The remedy should be sought 

 out, made known and applied. lam satisfied that 

 the readers of the Farmer, at least, are desirous 

 of making not only good butter, but the best that 

 can be made. Vermont farmers, with their sweet, 

 fertile pastures, and favorable climate, ought to 

 beat the world in their dairy products. Tell us 

 how ! Enquirer. 



Essex, Vt., Feb. 14, 1870. 



Remarks. — The "Editor of the Farmer," 

 alluded to above, did make the statement, (at 

 the late Farmers' Convention, in Manchester, 

 N. H., when the subject of "the dairy" was 

 under consideration) that he bad called upon 

 several of the leading butter merchants of 

 Boston, and asked them the following question : 



"What proportion of all the butter which 

 comes to this market, should you call good 

 table butter ?" Not more than one pound in 

 ten, was the usual reply ! And, from looking 

 over the butter which came to the stalls in the 

 market, we judged that they were very near 

 the truth. 



We are inclined to think that fully one-half 

 of all the butter coming into New England 

 markets, is "made over,'''' before it is retailed 

 in small parcels. That is, it is taken from the 

 tub, worked over by the aid of machinery, or 

 otherwise, washed, and in some measure j9«ri- 

 Jied, by the use of alkalies or some other 

 agents. It is then newly packed in a neat and 

 tasteful form, and sold. 



Large quantities go to confectioners, eating 

 houses and pastry cooks, but even there can- 

 not be used until it passes through a cleansing 

 process. All this is sold at greatly reduced 

 prices, and the farmer is the principal loser. 



There is no need of this. The fault lies in 

 all the points which you have enumerated. 

 Want of cleanliness in milking ; impure places 

 for setting the milk ; want of proper ventila- 



tion ; allowing the milk to stand too long, and 

 the cream, also : too little care in observing 

 the temperature of the cream and churn, in 

 churning ; exposure to the air ; and added to 

 these, and worse than all the rest, leaving but- 

 termilk in the butter ! 



Over and over again, have we given rules in 

 the Farmer for butter-making, from some of 

 the best dairy people in New England ; other 

 agricultural papers have done the same, and 

 yet there seems to be little improvement in the 

 article itself. Farmers are losing immensely 

 in this particular. Below are some general, 

 and, if good butter is to be obtained, indispen- 

 sable rules for making butter. 



1. Perfect cleanliness in everything, from 

 the milking of the cow, to packing the butter 

 down. 



2. A dry and well ventilated room in which 

 to set the milk ; at a temperature of from 60° 

 to 63°. 



3. Cream not to stand over thirty- six hours 

 — twenty-four is frequently better — in winter, 

 and in summer, twelve to eighteen hours, in 

 most dairy rooms. 



4. Stir the cream and add a little salt at 

 each time of skimming the milk. 



5. Churn often; twice or three times a week 

 is better than only once. 



6. One ounce of salt to a pound of butter 

 will more nearly meet the average taste than a 

 larger or smaller quantity. 



By careful observation, it will be found that 

 the quality of the butter, when properly made, 

 will depend more upon the original butter 

 making quality of the cow, than upon the char- 

 acter of the feed. The milk of every cow 

 should be tested, and only that used for butter 

 making which throws up a rich cream plenti- 

 fully. We have had cows whose milk would 

 not only give but very little cream, but would 

 actually prevent, in some degree, the cream 

 from rising on the milk of other cows. 



An excellent dairy woman furnishes the fol- 

 lowing as her mode of proceeding: "The 

 milk is set in a dark, cool cellar, the tempera- 

 ture by thermometer averaging 60° to 63°. I 

 gather the cream into a stone pot, salt the 

 week's cream, for one cow one teacupful of 

 fine salt, and stir the cream every day to keep 

 it sweet while accumulating ; then it is strained 

 into the churn ; it is about thirty minutes com- 

 ing to butter. I then drain off the buttermilk 



