ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 81 



tumbling the sacks through the dust and dirt until they penetrated the material 

 of the sack and mixed with the salt — most on the surface, of course, but render- 

 ing it impossible to get the salt out of the sacks free from fine dirt. One instance 

 was brought to my knowledge where a man completely peppered a sack of salt 

 with black specks by carrying it home in a wagon that had been used for hauling 

 coal. I have no doubt that many spoil salt by careless handling, and then 

 honestly suppose that dirty salt had been imposed upon them. Dealers are 

 often guilty in this respect; and I have seen salt kept by them in places hardly 

 fit for pig pens. In this way, salt gets wet and then hardens and becomes 

 inconvenient to use, if no other injury follows. 



In one instance that now comes to my mind, salt was not only kept in a 

 dirty, damp cellar, but some of it laid directly under an outside window in which 

 was a shute for unloading, and every time it rained the water poured in through 

 this shute and ran over the sacks of salt. The sacks were discolored and mouldy, 

 and some of them so stuck together that it was difficult to separate them without 

 spoiling them by tearing. It is needless to say that the salt was very much 

 injured, not to say spoiled. 



Again, salt kept in such a place, or in proximity to kerosene, codfish, or 

 other bad smelling articles, or brought in contact with these in transportation, 

 is often spoiled by absorbing these foul or disagreeable odors. Hence the com- 

 plaint about fishy and other smells which we sometimes hear. Salt is about as 

 sensitive to odors as any of the fats are. The tenacity with which it holds 

 them is illustrated by the bottle of smelling salts which is often found in the 

 pocket of a lady. In this case, the salt is used to hold the pungent odor which 

 the bottle gives out when uncorked. Salt will absorb and retain any other 

 odors just as readily. Hence, too much pains cannot be taken to keep salt in a 

 clean, sweet place, and to transport it in a cleanly manner. It should be 

 handled and stored in at least as cleanly a manner as flour, which is no more 

 liable to injury from improper handling and storing. 



Sometimes we hear wooden packages recommended as the only fit ones 

 for keeping salt. Undoubtedly, if salt must be subjected to villainous usages, 

 wood is the only protection. But barrels are too expensive, and of little or no 

 use when the salt is out. The dairyman does not want to pay 25 to 50 cents 

 for a barrel that is of no real value to him when the salt is used. A sack has real 

 value, and is of use in many ways. As by buying salt he gets the sacks at the 

 cost of manufacture, it is an object to buy bags in this way, which may be of 

 use in handling grain, or may be ripped open and used for toweling or other 

 domestic purposes. I find dairymen have decided preferences for strong linen 

 sacks. 



The preposterous claim has been set up that the use of a certain brand of 

 salt not only improves the quality of the butter but adds to its weight. It is 

 impossible for both claims to be true. In the first place, salt does not add to 

 the quality of the butter. If pure, the salt simply preserves whatever quality 

 the butter has and adds to it the sweet flavor of pure salt. If weight is added 

 to the butter above that added by a freely-dissolving salt when the butter is 

 sufficiently freed from water before salting, it is by the fraudulent retention of 

 undissolved salt in the butter, thereby making it gritty and depreciating the 

 market value of it two to five cents a pound. He is very short-sighted, there - 



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