The Blending of Butter. 
125 
in Holland and at home, as their low percentage of water and 
their excellent quality make them suitable subjects for the 
blending process. 
The word “ blending ” covers a multitude of sins. It may 
mean mixing two butters together, although this is only done 
when one of them is probably of very poor quality ; or it may 
mean the addition of some foreign substance, or the overload- 
ing of the pure butter with water. In all cases the object 
of the blending is the same, viz., to put profit into the pocket 
of the blender. 
A great deal of sentimental nonsense is talked on the 
subject of the so-called milk-blended butter. It is said that 
the poor get a more palatable article of food, that it is softer 
and spreads better, &c. ; but in my opinion the poor would 
do much better if they could get the genuine Colonial butter 
first hand, instead of an overworked second edition of the 
same, overloaded with water, or mixed with some other 
foreign substance. 
A blending factory must make a considerable profit on 
every pound of Colonial butter it handles, while the pur- 
chaser of milk-biended butter is equally defrauded on every 
pound he purchases, since he probably only gets from 12 oz. 
to 13 oz. of butter fat in every pound he buys. 
The Siberian butters are also bought for blending and 
mixing, and as they are quoted at a lower price, the profit 
on them is probably larger. 
It is almost impossible to say of what Dutch butters consist, 
since genuine butter, made from the milk of Dutch cows, 
could not be sold here at a profit. Large quantities of our 
Colonial butters are sent from here to Holland, mixed up with 
other substances, and returned to this country for sale. Some 
may only contain an excess of water, but where so much 
“ faking ” is done, it is hard to believe that any of the low- 
priced butters exported from Holland here are pure. 
The question of genuine margarine does not come within 
the province of this article ; but if it is manufactured in this 
country and is sold under its proper name, no harm can be 
done to any one, as the purchaser knows what he is buying, 
and the English margarine factories are now under Government 
inspection. 
Where, however, “ lardine ” and other similar substances 
are mixed with butter in such small proportions as to baffle 
the analyst, then no punishment can be too severe. These 
illegitimate blending factories are not under Government 
control, as they are supposed to be only butter factories, and 
it is therefore difficult to find out anything about the compound 
they use. 
