CATTLE. 
145 
“ It is difficult to reach fully the truth of the first proposition. But 
we can approximate to it, and then adapt our practice as nearly to such 
standard or rule as it is possible to do. The temperature of the room 
where the milk is set must never exceed 65° F., and must be as steady 
and even as possible. The atmosphere of the same must be kept perfectly 
pure ; for auy odor peculiar to the decomposition of vegetable or organic 
substances mingling therewith, will inevitably leave its taint upon the 
milk and its product. 
When the casein is precipitated or the milk coagulated, it is ready to 
churn. It must not stand until the second change takes place in the 
lacteal or the sugar of milk ; that is, until the lactic acid becomes bu- 
tyric acid, the latter stage of which may be known from the discolored 
spots of mould gathered on the surface of the cream. The thick milk 
should always be emptied with the cream into the churn. There are 
two important reasons in support of this method. First, the cream never 
all rises to the surface, and there must always remain with the coagu- 
lated part quite a fraction of the fatty matter, which is lost if not 
churned. Second, there is a virtue in the casein and lactic acid which 
is essential in the process of churning to import to the product the ele- 
ment of preservation. It is a fact which should be known by all dairy-men 
and dealers, that the product of cream exclusively, however skillfully 
manipulated, will not, if packed for keeping, preserve for any length of 
time the finer qualities of good butter.' 
“The milk in the churn, when fit for churning, should indicate 64° 
Fah., and should be agitated with a movement of the dash at not less 
than fifty strokes to the minute. Less motion will fail to divide properly 
the butter from the milk. When done, the butter should be taken from 
the churn and thrown into a tub or a small churn partly filled with water 
42° to 44 3 Fall., and the buttermilk forced out with a small dash. It 
should then be put into trays and washed until the water used ceases to 
be the least discolored with buttermilk. It is then ready for salting, 
which should be done and the trays immediately carried to the cellar. 
The proper amount is l£ oz. to the pound of butter after working — i. e„ 
the butter should retain that amount when ready for packing. When 
it has stood three or four hours after the first salting, it should be stirred 
with a ladle and left in the form of a honey-comb, in order to give it 
the greatest possible surface exposure to the air, which gives color and 
fixes the high flavor. 
“Butter when well manufactured, while standing preparatory to pack- 
ing, is composed of granulated particles, between which are myriads ot 
infinitesimal cells filled with brine, which is its life. At this period it 
should be touched with a light hand, as too much and too careless work- 
ing will destroy its granular and cellular character, and reduce the whole 
to a compact and lifeless mass, with an immediate loss of flavor, and a 
certain and reliable prospect, if packed, of a rapid change of its character 
from indifferently good to miserably poor butter. It should never be 
worked in the trav while in a dry state, or all the ill results just alluded 
to will be realized. As a general rule, after the butter has stood in the 
trays twenty-four hours, and has been worked three or four times, as 
directed, it is ready for packing. After the firkin is filled, it should stand 
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