CONTROLLING MOISTURE IN BUTTER. 331 



the rollers and strikes the sides of the churn before 

 the ends of the column strike it. This divides the 

 water in the churn and forces it to the ends, which 

 causes the butter to be drier in the middle of the 

 churn than at either end. This can be overcome, to 

 some extent, by setting the churn level and hand- 

 ling the churning in such a way as to produce but- 

 ter of a rather soft consistency. 



170. How to take a composite sample of butter 

 for moisture determination. Take a spatula, a com- 

 mon broad knife, or a cheese or butter trier, and a 

 common cup or beaker, and take about one-fourth 

 of an ounce of butter from different parts of the 

 churn, until two or three ounces have been obtained. 

 Place the samples in the cup or beaker and set the 

 latter into a water bath having a temperature of 

 about 98° P. Stir constantly until you have a 

 smooth, soft paste. This now constitutes your com- 

 posite sample and is to be used for moisture deter- 

 mination. From it take 10, 15 or 25 grams, or any 

 desired quantity. "Weigh it accurately and place in 

 a cup or drying pan and follow the directions on 

 whatever moisture testing apparatus is used. 



171. Samples taken from tubs. It is well to take 

 a very small quantity of butter from each tub while 

 it is still soft and fresh from the churn, to form the 

 composite sample to be used for testing the moisture 

 content. Prepare this sample as previously stated 

 and test as usual. The test made from the composite 

 tub sample will, as a rule, show a truer average, and 

 when this is compared with the test made from the 

 churn composite sample and does not check up quite 



