ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 311 



must have taken even more work than in Northern Illinois, 

 where we have plenty of ice. 



Of course, the care of the cows and general farm manage- 

 ment come under the head of butter-making on the farm and 

 really the whole matter of profit lies in the cow — what she eats 

 and the labor of taking care of her. 



Butter-making is a business or rather a trade. The pro- 

 ducing of milk and the making of butter are growing to be 

 two different occupations. 



I shall speak of how butter is made on our farm. 



I thought at one time that it was absoluteh^ necessary to 

 churn every day and under certain conditions, it uislj be, but I 

 am satisfied that with proper conditions three times a week is 

 often enough; and if I did not know that very few farmers 

 have the proper conditions, I would say that excellent butter 

 can be made by churning twice a week. The favorable con- 

 ditions are that the cream must be kept cold and in a cold 

 place. To have the cream in a cold place during the night and 

 a warm place during the day it will be ruined, especially if the 

 vat in which it is kept is not perfectly tight. I think the less 

 the cream is exposed to the air the better. I do not believe 

 that good butter can be made when cream is kept in a can or 

 jar on the back of the kitchen stove. An occasional churning 

 may be all right and if the churning is done often enough the 

 butter will do for house use, but it will not pass as first grade 

 on the market. The average farmer's cellar is worse than the 

 kitchen and pantry to keep milk and cream in. 



As soon as the milking is done, if a separator is not used, 

 the milk should be set in cold water — the colder the better — 

 and certainly not higher than 45 degrees. If surrounding con- 

 ditions are as they should be I do not think it makes much dif- 

 ference whether the cans are submerged or not, as to the 

 amount of cream secured, but I prefer submerging them. 

 Twenty-four hours is long enough for the milk to stand before 

 skimming, although with fresh cows and ice cold water the 

 cream can be obtained in twelve hours. Twenty-four hours 

 before churning the cream should be warmed enough so that 

 it will sour. The point to which the cream is warmed depends 

 so much upon circumstances that no rule can be made that will 

 apply to all cases. In ordinary winter weather I warm my 



