162 
Dairying  in  Denmark. 
elusion  I arrived  at  was  that  good  dairymaids  believed  that  they 
could  work  the  butter  more  completely  with  the  hand,  while 
preserving  its  grain,  than  could  be  accomplished  by  means  of 
the  mechanical  butter-worker ; and,  on  the  other  hand,  bad  or 
inefficient  dairymaids  used  the  machine  recklessly,  and  over- 
worked the  butter  at  its  final  stage,  so  that  the  merchants  had 
ground  for  complaint,  and  discouraged  its  use.  When  the 
butter-worker  is  properly  used,  the  butter  is  not  touched  by  the 
hand  ; but,  by  means  of  wooden  patters  or  spatulae,  it  is  passed 
under  the  rollers  about  a dozen  times,  sometimes  more  and 
sometimes  less,  according  to  the  temperature  and  the  size  of  the 
machine.  With  a small  machine  the  butter  requires  to  be 
passed  under  the  rollers  more  often  than  with  a larger  and 
more  powerful  machine. 
The  making  of  the  butter  being  now  completed,  nothing 
remains  to  be  done  but  packing  it  for  market.  This  is  a very 
simple  operation,  but  is  conducted  with  the  same  regard  for 
cleanliness  and  neatness  as  every  other  operation  in  a Danish 
dairy.  The  butter  is  simply  rammed,  by  means  of  a wooden 
pestle,  into  a new  keg,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  placed  a piece 
of  clean  linen  lined  with  salt ; and  when  the  keg  is  full,  a similar 
piece  of  linen  covered  with  salt  is  put  on  the  top  of  it,  before 
the  head  is  fixed  in,  which  is  not  done  until  just  before  the 
butter  is  sent  to  the  merchant  or  factor  to  whom  the  butter  made 
on  the  farm  is  always  consigned. 
3.  Sweet-cream  Butter. — Some  five  or  six  years  ago  sweet- 
cream  butter  was  made  on  many  large  farms  in  Denmark.  In 
fact,  this  method  of  treating  cream  was  regarded  as  an  advance 
upon  the  sour-cream  method.  At  the  present  time,  however,  it 
may  be  safely  stated  that  sweet-cream  butter  is  rarely,  if  ever, 
made  in  Denmark  except  for  Messrs.  Busck,  jun.,  and  Co. 
(Scandinavian  Preserved  Butter  Company),  for  the  purpose  of 
being  packed  in  hermetically  sealed  tins  for  exportation  to 
tropical  countries.  It  is  possible  that  some  smaller  companies 
may  adopt  the  same  system,  but  all  those  whose  managers  I 
have  seen  now  adopt  the  sour-cream  method.  This  latter  has 
the  uncontested  advantage  of  yielding  from  3 to  4 per  cent, 
more  butter,  with,  it  is  alleged,  better  keeping  qualities,  and  no 
inferiority  in  other  respects.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Busck 
pays  his  clients  for  the  best  sweet-cream  butter,  provided  that  it 
is  made  according  to  his  directions,  which  include  the  dietary 
of  the  cows,  about  20  per  cent,  more  than  is  paid  for  the  best 
sour-cream  butter.  Thus,  in  the  first  week  of  June  in  1881, 
Mr.  Tesdorpf  was  receiving  108s.  per  cwt.,  less  2£  per  cent, 
commission,  for  first  quality  sour-cream  butter,  and  128s.  per 
cwt.  net  for  first  quality  sweet-cream  butter.  In  the  same  week 
