160 
Dairying  in  Denmark. 
the  progress  of  the  churning  can  be  observed  as  often  as  desired, 
without  stopping  the  churn.  A thermometer  can  also  be  inserted 
in  another  hole,  and  thus  the  gradual  rise  in  temperature  can 
be  noted.  The  butter  having  “come,”  it  is  carefully  removed 
from  the  churn  in  the  following  manner : — The  dairymaid 
takes  a hair  sieve,  dips  it  into  the  churn,  and  brings  up  about 
a pound  of  butter  in  granules.  She  holds  it  for  the  buttermilk 
to  drain  off,  and  by  gently  tipping  the  sieve  first  to  one  side 
and  then  to  the  other,  she  gradually  gets  rid  of  most  of  the 
buttermilk,  and  also  brings  the  granules  into  a loose  roll.  This 
preliminary  and  very  simple  operation  is  a good  index  of  the 
skill  of  the  dairymaid.  Properly  and  gently  done,  the  butter 
is  drained  of  a large  proportion  of  the  contained  buttermilk, 
it  is  fairly  consolidated,  and,  more  important  than  all,  its 
grain  is  not  broken.  A careless  or  too  energetic  dairymaid  will 
obtain  none  of  these  advantages,  and  will  irreparably  spoil  the 
butter. 
The  roll  of  butter  is  then  gently  deposited  on  the  side  of  the 
kneading-trough  ; and  when  the  whole  of  the  “ make  ” has  been 
similarly  dealt  with,  the  process  of  working  or  kneading  com- 
mences. The  dairymaid  has  close  at  hand  three  cans  and  a 
cloth,  which  she  makes  frequent  use  of  as  follows  : — Premising 
that  her  hands  are  perfectly  clean,  she  begins  by  thoroughly 
wiping  them  with  the  damp  cloth.  She  then  swills  them 
well  in  the  can  which  contains  hot  water ; then  plunges 
them  into,  and  keeps  them  for  some  moments  in,  the  second  can, 
which  contains  cold  water,  or,  preferably,  a mixture  of  ice  and 
water,  and  finally  rinses  them  in  the  third  can,  which  contains 
buttermilk  just  taken  from  the  churn.  Having  thus  prepared 
her  hands,  she  proceeds  to  work  the  butter  as  follows : — One  of 
the  rolls  is  set  on  end,  and  gently  but  firmly  pressed  against  the 
side  of  the  trough,  with  one  hand  placed  crosswise  over  the 
other,  until  it  forms  a flat  cake.  This  is  then  rolled  up,  and  set 
on  end  again,  when  the  process  is  repeated,  and  so  on  until  the 
butter  has  been  thoroughly  squeezed  and  consolidated,  and  most 
of  the  buttermilk  expressed  without  injuring  the  grain  of  the 
still  tender  butter.  Generally  this  first  working  necessitates 
seven  times  rolling  and  pressing;  but  the  number  varies  from 
6 to  12  on  different  farms  and  at  different  times  of  year. 
After  the  last  pressing  the  butter  is  loosely  rolled  and  care- 
fully placed  on  a board  ; and  when  the  whole  of  the  “ make  ” 
has  been  thus  dealt  with,  the  board  and  the  butter  are  carried  to 
the  small  weighing-machine,  which  is  a necessary  article  of  use 
in  every  Danish  dairy.  The  tare  of  the  board  being  known, 
the  weight  of  the  butter  is  easily  arrived  at,  and  is  duly 
entered  by  the  dairymaid  on  the  line  on  which  she  has,  in  other 
