TESTING FOR MOISTURE. 205 



or pan and is weighed with the sample of butter, 

 the result will show a higher per cent of moisture 

 than the butter actually contains. I have found that 

 by neglecting to dry the vessels into which the 

 samples are weighed, and by not having the plates 

 on the scale, on which the pans were placed, per- 

 fectly clean and dry, a difference of 2.5 per cent in 

 the actual per cent of moisture was the result. In 

 one creamery a rickety old scale was used and the 

 result was 8 per cent too low. That is, the result 

 obtained when the sample was not correctly weighed 

 was 12 per cent moisture. When the sample was 

 weighed on an accurate scale, the actual moisture 

 content was found to be 20 per cent. "When the 

 scale is clean, accurate and well balanced, the cups 

 or pans heated before the butter is weighed into 

 them, the sample accurately taken and correctly 

 weighed, the moisture all expelled, the sample again 

 accurately weighed and the mathematical calcula- 

 tions properly performed, the result will be very 

 close to the actual per cent of moisture in the butter. 



260. Testing leaky or slushy butter for moisture. 



It is very hard to test this kind of butter satisfac- 

 torily on account of the presence of much loose wa- 

 ter as well as considerable water being held in large 

 pockets throughout the butter. When sampling this 

 kind of butter it is well to take more samples from 

 different parts of the tub or churn than are taken 

 when well made butter is tested. "When this kind 

 of butter is hard,_a great deal of water may drip off 

 of the trier and the sample may show results much 

 too low in the per cent of moisture. In such a case 



