American Milh-Condensin(/ Factories. 
145 
Fig. 15.— ne Mole 
Shimmer 
facility ami satisfaction, by having- proper appliances, and in 
knowing how to use them. One of these little appliances is the 
" Mote skimmer," for taking off specks, flies, or any small 
particle of dirt that happens to fall upon the 
milk after it has been strained either into the 
can or vat. This skimmer is a small tin 
cup, the inner surface being concave and 
free from sharp angles. In the bottom is 
placed a fine wire strainer, about 1 inch in * 
diameter. It is provided with an upright 
handle some 2 feet in length, thus making 
an implement much more convenient for re- 
moving any little mote from the milk than 
the common skimmer. The annexed cut 
(Fig. 15) represents the form of the " mote 
skimmer." 
From experiments with different kinds of 
churns, American butter-makers are decidedly 
of opinion that for quantity and quality of product from a given 
quantity of cream, the dash churn is to be preferred, and most 
especially is this form of churn to be recommended for butter 
factories. In this opinion the butter-makers of Orange County 
pretty generally agree ; and as the old-fashioned dash churn is 
not a patented article, its recommendations to favour must rest 
upon its merits alone. 
For milk-condensing factories the "two-barrel size" is preferred ; 
and the churns should be made with as little bilge as possible. 
During the churning it is thought desirable to keep the cream 
from rising above 60^ m temperature. When the churns are 
started, the temperature of the cream should be about 5G° ; and 
it has been found that the best results are obtained when the 
dashers make from 40 to 42 strokes per minute. At this rate of 
stroke, and no less than one hour being consumed in the process 
of churning, if the temperature of the cream be kept below 60°, 
or no higher than that, the butter will come of good colour and 
texture, and will be in the right condition for a first-class " fancy 
product," at least so far as it can be made by the operation of 
; churning. It is important, of course, that the cream be in the 
I proper condition when it goes to the churn ; but the manner in 
J which the churning is conducted has a much greater influence 
upon the product than many people imagine. 
The agitation of the cream over the whole mass should be as 
even and uniform as possible, in order that all the cream may 
be turned into butter at about the same time. If the agitation 
is too rapid, or if it be unevenly distributed through the mass, 
a part of the cream will come to butter while a part will remain 
VOL. VIII. — S. 8. L 
