142 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



Mat 



Rules for Butter JffaMng. 



I "-will endeavor to give the general outlines, 

 the essential leading principles, without attempt- 

 ing to give all the exact details, as it would be a 

 much ensier task to teach a man how to make a 

 watch, than how to make the first quality of but- 

 ter ; as ii is ibe most sensitive it is the most lia- 

 ble to injury, of all the eatables extracted from 

 the veget able kingdom. The first important thing 

 for making butter, is the cow. Without stopping 

 to give a • uU description for selecting, she must 

 give good rich milk, as first quality of butter 

 cannot be made from poor milk, as poor milk 

 lacks the essential quality of good butter. 



The ifiea of coloring butter with anything after 

 it is made, is as absurd as would be painting rye 

 bread lo make it white, with the exception of 

 changibg its flavor. Butter is so sensitive it par- 

 takes of everything that can effect it, that it 

 comes in contact with; as onions, carrots, par- 

 snips, turnips, fish, or anything else that would 

 make it unpalatable, either ia the butter or milk 

 churning. Not only so, but the butter partakes 

 of everything the cow eats or drinks, and the 

 longer it stands after being made, the more per- 

 ceptibly will the unpalatable things on which she 

 has fed make themselves manifest. By this it 

 will fee seen that the most important thing for 

 first quality butter, is the food for the cow. Nei- 

 ther from roots of any sort or kind, or grain of 

 any description, can first quality butter be ex- 

 tracted. It must be from something that imparts 

 a sweeter and finer flavor, and from nothing that 

 grows i'l i^his country that I know, except timo- 

 thy, wliite clover, blue grass, red~top and foul 

 meadow, can first quality butter be made, that 

 will statu! the t^st so as to remain sweet until the 

 next wini er or spring after it is made ; and each 

 of thene grasses must have been sown or seeded 

 down suificienily long, and so well cared for as 

 to have^a sod thick enough to make it produce a 

 fine solid grass, to make it a perfect dairy pas- 

 ture, thoujjh many other pastures willmakegood 

 butter for mmediate use, but not to keep. The 

 cow too must i»e well wintered, however good she 

 may hav been to make good butter, because if 

 poor h- r milk will- also be poor and white, and 

 of course the butter ditto. Your correspondent 

 says, " if you had seen as I have done, the far- 

 mer's wi-es and daughters with tears in their 

 eyes, when told that the product of their sum- 

 mer's labor, as shown in their butter, was a poor 

 article, etc. for none of these things are the 

 dairy W'men in the least responsible, and no one 

 else but ihe dairy man, or provider of the cow's 

 food; yet in this, as inmany, very many instances, 

 the wroiia persons are held accountable for things 

 over which tliey have no control. The manufac- 

 turing is an essential part of the business, yet 

 the negb ct ol any of the above requirements is 

 fatal to a first-rate dairy for winter use. 



The cow must be looked after as soon as 

 ehe comes in, and milked sufiSciently often to pre", 

 vent her "lag from becoming feverish and caking, 

 as one mi king from a feverir^h cow would spoil a 

 churning, aud that would spoil a whole firkin in 

 wMch it was packed, though it might aot be per* 



ceptible for immedisite use, and none but the skill- 

 ful butter maker would perceive it in the churn- 

 ing of the butter. Such milk froths and foam^, 

 and when it does this, as well as from other 

 causes, it is always safest to sell it for immediate 

 use, or pack it separately in a firkin to sell for 

 what it will brings The churn should be as nearly 

 straight up and down as possible, and the dash 

 should stir all the milk every stroke it makes, 80 

 that the butter in the churn should all come at 

 the same time. If the milk is too cold, the only 

 safe way to warm it is to place a pail of milk in 

 a Urge boiler of warm water, to bring ir to the 

 exact temperature, which is about 55° to 60° — a 

 few degrees warmer in cold than in warm wea-^ 

 ther. As soon as the butter has come and gath- 

 ered, take it immediately from the churn in its 

 warm state, and put it in a large wooden bowl, 

 which is the best vessel for the purpose, then put 

 it in cold, soft water; then commence pulling the 

 butter over with the ladle in so gentle and care- 

 ful a manner as not to affect the grain, for as 

 sure as that is injured at the washing or working, 

 the butter becomes oily and can never be re- 

 claimed. Every particle of milk must be washed 

 out, and then season with the best of Liverpool 

 salt. Set the bowl away until the next day, and 

 when sufficiently cool, work the mass thoroughly, 

 but not BO as to affect the grain, and on the third 

 day pack it away if it has assumed the right 

 color. Examine it well before packing, and be 

 sure that no milky water runs from it, tor as sure 

 as it is packed with the least drop in the butter, 

 you will hear from it the next March or April. 

 The sooner you dispose of unwashed butter the 

 better, as milk would not harm it much for im- 

 mediate use. 



If your spring or well is hard water, I would 

 advise saving ice from rivers or streams, though 

 the water is hard, as the lime never congeals with, 

 the ice. Save rain water, and then with ice you 

 will have water sufficiently cool to -wash your:' 

 butter, without which no man or woman can get ' 

 the milk out without injuring the grain, so that 

 the injurious effec s of the lime water will not 

 exhibit itself in six months. Soft water is as in** 

 dispensable to wash butter as fine linen. From 

 all this I do not wish to be understood that wash- 

 ing butter is positively necessary if it is to be 

 used within a few weeks. A. B. D.- 



—9*- 



Bees in Spring. 



Hives should be examined, to see if the swarms 

 are in good order, and have sufficient stores. It 

 is not sufficient that there is an abundance of 

 bees; there must be enough food to enable them 

 to live and breed, until the flowers can supply 

 them with new stores. Last year, many that got 

 through the winter well, perished in spring by 

 starvation ; the weather in the early part of the 

 season being too wet and cold to produce honey, 

 or allow the bees to fly out and forage. 



If there is not enough honey in the combs sap* 

 ply the bees either with surplus honey, or lacking , 

 that, sugair candy will be an excellent substitute. 

 Unbolted rye meal is greatly recommended at • 



