242 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
quality—of the butter. As before stated (6 
and 7) the casein and sugar, and not the pure 
butter itself, furnish the elements of rancidi¬ 
ty and bad flavor. The better plan, where 
butter is designed for long-keeping, is to 
work or knead it till all the buttermilk is re¬ 
moved, then work it over with a little cold 
water in which a small quantity of soda has 
been dissolved—never more than half a tea¬ 
spoonful to a gallon of water, The soda 
will assist in dissolving out the remaining 
casein and in neutralizing any acid already 
formed. When butter is not designed for 
keeping, the washing may be omitted, as, to 
some tastes, it slightly deteriorates the pe¬ 
culiar flavor of new butter. If the working 
is thoroughly done, there is less need of 
washing. In all cases let all water used be 
of the purest quality obtainable, and avoid 
all foreign substances. The smallest parti¬ 
cle of lint, or organic substances of any kind, 
in butter, becomes the center of decay. The 
perspiration from the hands of the operator, 
is frequently the beginning of deterioration. 
19. Sailing Butter .—The first requisite is 
to get good salt. Most of that sold in mar¬ 
ket contains considerable quantities of the 
chlorides of magnesia and lime. These im¬ 
purities are easily removed, and it is best to 
do this in salt for butter or cheese. To 8 or 
10 lbs. of salt add a quart of boiling water, 
stir well now and then for an hour or two, 
pour off the water and hang up the salt in a 
straining cloth, or bag, to dry. The water 
will dissolve out the impurities, and some of 
the salt. This may be set aside to evaporate, 
and the refuse given to cattle, or used to 
salt green hay, so that there will be no 
waste. The salt thus prepared will be far su¬ 
perior for dairy use to that usually found in 
market. The amount of salt to be added to 
butter depends upon its freedom from casein 
—that is, upon the amount of working and 
washing it has received—and upon the length 
of time it is to be kept; and also upon the 
manner of packing, and the climate or de¬ 
gree of heat to which it is to be subjected. 
If butter is thoroughly freed from casein, and 
packed in vessels nearly air-tight, with the 
salt well worked in, and when not to be sub¬ 
jected to high temperature in warm climates, 
it will keep well with less than half an ounce 
of salt to the pound. Where none of these 
conditions are met, one and a half ounces, 
or even more, is required. About three- 
fourths of an ounce is the average quantity 
required. Many of the best butter makers 
recommend to add one-half of the salt, and 
let it stand 24 hours ; then workover again, 
adding the other half. This process re¬ 
moves more of the water, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, more of the casein. It should be 
remembered that a particle of salt should 
come in contact with every particle of casein, 
and to be sure of this, the salt should be 
thoroughly worked in. To secure uniformity 
in adding the salt, spread the butter in a thin 
sheet, sprinkle a little salt all over the sur¬ 
face, roll it together, and repeat the process 
till all is added. 
20. Packing Butter .—Forhome use, stone¬ 
ware vessels are undoubtedly the best. 
For transportation to distant markets, wood¬ 
en vessels must be used. These should al¬ 
ways be made of perfectly seasoned timber, 
and be water-tight. There is so much dan¬ 
ger of flavor from the wood, that we have 
recommended heating the inside of the but¬ 
ter tubs nearly to charring, and then soak¬ 
ing them in a strong brine for a few hours 
or days. The heating can be done by 
placing them over a small coal-furnace, or 
by kindling a fire of shavings on the inside. 
No harm svill be done if the entire inside is 
charred. The aromatic sap of the wood 
will by this means be destroyed, and the 
tubs will be all the more durable. After 
burning, the inside should of course be 
scraped entirely clean. The importance of 
this recommendation will be appreciated 
when we state, that one-half of all the butter 
carried to market in this country is more or 
less changed in flavor by the packing tubs. 
In putting down the butter, let it be thor¬ 
oughly pressed together, to free it from con¬ 
fined air, and then let its surface be kept as 
much as possible from access of air. If the 
tubs or firkins can be headed up, so much 
the better. We have kept butter in a tub 
unchanged for an entire year, by covering it 
with a strong brine. 
We have thus thrown out a few hints, 
which are probably all well known to good 
butter makers, but we write not for such 
especially. We may sum up the whole mat¬ 
ter in a few words—cleanliness, tempera¬ 
ture, and thorough working of butter. The 
great points in butter-making are, churning 
at 50 to 55 degrees, working out the casein 
(buttermilk), and working in the salt. Those 
who have a thermometer and strong arms, 
have the most essential implements for 
making good butter. We shall continue 
our hints upon cheese-making. 
THE BEDFORD MOWER TRIAL. 
REPORT OF THE JUDGES. 
To the President of the Society of Agri¬ 
culture and Horticulture of Westchester 
County : 
The Committee appointed to decide upon 
the merits of the Mowing machines shown 
at the exhibition held under the auspices of 
the Society of Agriculture and Horticulture 
of Westchester County, at the farm of A. F. 
Dickinson, Esq., of Bedford, on the 15th and 
16th of June inst., respectfully report : 
That the}? were very greatly pleased with 
the performance of every machine exhibited, 
and can confidently say that they believe any 
one of them would give satisfaction to the 
farmers of the country, and when all are so 
excellent, it becomes a matter of considera¬ 
ble difficulty and embarrassment to the Com¬ 
mittee to decide which one of them embodies 
the greatest number of desirable qualities. 
But as they all possess peculiar excellencies 
we will’ specify them under the following 
heads : 
1st.—Operation of the machines on fair 
ground, driven at first by the same driver 
and team and afterward by the exhibitor’s 
themselves or under their direction : 
On this point your Committee find that the 
machines of Allen, Hallenbeck, Ketchum, 
and Manny are of equal excellence. 
2d.—The lowest and smoothest cut of each 
machine : 
Your Committee are of opinion that upon 
this point there is no marked difference in 
the four machines just mentioned, (Allen’s, 
Hallenbeck’s, Ketchum’s and Manny’s). 
3d.—Trial on rough uncleared bottom : 
Your Committee on this point give the 
preference to Allen’s and Russell’s ma¬ 
chines. 
4th.—Evenness of grass as left by the ma¬ 
chine for curing: 
We find that the machines with the iron 
cutter bar have the preference in this re¬ 
spect. 
5th.—Freedom of knives from clogging : 
We are of opinion that the machines of 
Hallenbeck, Ketchum, Manny, and Russell, 
on account of the finger caps not reaching 
back to the finger-board, are least likely to 
clog. 
6th.—Amount of power required to per¬ 
form a given amount of work : 
Your Committee think there is but little 
difference in this respect between the ma¬ 
chines of Allen, Hallenbeck, and Manny. 
7th.—Facilities of transportation from one 
field to another, and for escaping obstruc¬ 
tions in the field: 
We believe that Manny’s machine has ad¬ 
vantages over any other in this respect. 
8th.—Durability and simplicity of con- 
stuction : 
We believe Allen’s and Ketchum’s the 
most durable, and Hallenbeck’s the most 
simply constructed machines exhibited. 
9th.—Cost of machines : 
Allen’s.,.$120 
Forbush’s. 120 
Ketchum’s. 120 
Ketchum’s, made by Hull,.,. 120 
Manny’s, made by Adriance,. 120 
Manny’s, made by Ball,. 115 
Russell’s. 125 
Hallenbeck’s. 100 
Ketchum’s, (one-horse machines). 95 
Your Committee in this report have in¬ 
cluded under the term of Ketchum’s ma¬ 
chines, that of Hull, and the one-horse Mow¬ 
er manufactured by Ruggles, Nourse & Ma¬ 
son. And also where Manny’s is spoken of 
they mean to include the machines manu¬ 
factured by Adriance of Worcester, Mass., 
and by Ball of Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 
The machine brought upon the ground by 
Mr. Grilling, (Forbush’s patent,) is not in¬ 
cluded in this Report, as the proprietors from 
some cause were not satisfied that it had a 
fair trial, not being able to have it in proper 
order. 
R. MOTT UNDERHILL, Yorktown. 
JEREMIAH HOWE, Lewisboro’, 
SAMUEL TEED, Somers, 
STEPHEN BARNES, Northcastle, 
HENRY WOOD, Bedford, 
Committee. 
We promised an account of the above 
trial, but the candid and excellent report of 
the Committee saves us the trouble of say¬ 
ing more than a word or two in explanation. 
The Tribune gave, on the 16th of June, the 
only report we have seen, and this is being 
copied by several exchanges. That report 
referred only to a part of the first day’s pro¬ 
ceedings, and was very unfair, inasmuch 
as the entire w T ork laid ouflby the Committee 
was perfectly done, except the first swath.* 
The hardest and indeed the only severe test of 
the Mowers, was made on the second day, 
upon rough and stony ground ; and upon 
* The reporter estimated machines present as weighing 
from 500 to 525 lbs., whose weight was about 675 to 700 
lbs. This is a fair sample of his correctness ! The ma¬ 
chine which he was certain “ would take the first prize,” 
did not make its appearance at the bruising trial in the 
clover field. It is very certain il it had, it would have 
been dangerous to the driver on such rough ground, and 
it would probably have come out of its swath worse in¬ 
jured than any other tried that day. So much for his 
judgment in such matters! 
