778 
©EC. 7 
WHAT IS BUTTER! 
T. II. HOSKINS, M. D. 
“ Butter i8 a fatty substanco extracted from 
milk,” would be a general answer to this ques¬ 
tion. But what is milk, then, and how does 
butter come to be a constituent of it? We are 
told that milk iB » substance secreted in the 
udder of a cow (or some other mammal), and that 
it is composed of water, casein, butter, sugar 
and mineral salts. The casein, sugar and min¬ 
eral salts are iu solution in the water, while the 
butter is dispersed through the fluid in the form 
of very fine globules, which have a tendency to 
rite to the top when the milk is left at rest. 
ABOUT THE GLOBULES, 
then, which are butter in its fir-t stage—how 
are they produced from the b nod of the cow? 
The blood of all warm-blooded animals con¬ 
tains fatly or oily matter, derived from their 
food. Some of this cornea directly from the oil 
of the plants that are eaten. Besides this, the 
digestive organs are Rble to transform starch 
and sugar into fat. The milk-glands contained 
in the udder are, as to their minutest parts, 
composed of myriads of little sacs, or bladders, 
called cells. A thousand of these would, often, 
not make a mass as large as » turnip seed. 
Thote oeUs lie surrounded by a net-work of the 
smallest blood-vessels, called capillaries (from 
capilla, a hair, on account of their fineness), 
and continually grow from matter which they 
draw from the blood that flows on all sides of 
them. Their growth is at first simply enlarge¬ 
ment, but when their full Bizo is attained, they 
begin to “segregate” or “proliferate," tha' is, 
to divide or hud, producing from each mature 
cell a number of little ones, In wbioh the same 
process of growth and division continues. The 
space allotted to these oells beiDg limited, as 
they continually increase in number and size 
they mugt have an opportunity to escape, which 
is afforded by the little passages called ducts, 
which lead from every part towards the pouches 
provided in the lower part of the ndder to 
receive the milk. The mature cells do uot pass 
along these passages without rupturing and 
dispersing their content*, This rupture of their 
inclosing membrane is c&need by their absorbing 
the surrounding moisture until they bnrat. The 
milk consists of the contents of the cells, mixed 
with the surrounding fluid, which has exuded 
from the capillaries without entering the cells. 
The special contents of the cells, which escape 
when they are ruptured, are the butter globules 
—those little massoB of oil (for butter at the 
temperature of the blood is fluid), which, as 
remarked above, are butter in its first stage. 
It might be interesting here to say something 
about the peculiar nature of 
BUTTE*, AS DISTINGUISHED FROM OTHER ANIMAL FATS, 
such aB lard, tallow, or suet. The oleomarga¬ 
rine makers contoud that there is no difference, 
or, in substance, that the fat of cows’ milk is 
simply tallow, and of sows’ milk, simply Rrd. 
But chemistry is able to show, though aB yet 
not with perfect precision, that secreted fat 
differs from deposited fat; that is, that fat 
formed in the Becreting glands, liko the glands 
of the ndder, for instance, iB differently com¬ 
posed from the fat which is simply deposited in 
the tisanes of the body. We know, as a matter 
of common experience, that it is both more 
palatable and more digestible; and it is reason¬ 
able to suppose, aside from the demonstrations 
of science, that these differences are due to 
variation in composition, adapting milk to its 
special use as food. 
COVERING OF GLOBULES. 
It is stated above that the cells are little sacs, 
that is, they have an enveltp, wall, or covering 
around them, similar to the shell of an egg, 
only not hard, but tbiu and flexible. This cov¬ 
ering, or cell membrane, as it is called, is visible 
under the microscope as a transparent film, and 
there iB no doubt about its existence. But after 
bursting, it dissolves or falls to pieces, and dis¬ 
appears iu the fluid by which it is surrounded. 
It is often assorted that the butter-glc bules, the 
minute oil-drops that constitute the principal 
contents of the -.'ells, have also each a fine cov¬ 
ering, similar to, but thinner than, the cell- 
membrane ; and we have long been assured 
that tbo process of churning is only a process 
of thrashing these globules iu order to beat off 
the membrane, which is said to be the impedi¬ 
ment that prevents the globules from adhering 
together to form visible butter. But this is a 
belief which some of the best observers decl.re 
has no proof, either optical or chemical, to sus¬ 
tain it. It is a hypothesis merely, a bare 
supposition, which probably arose from the 
notion that without such a covering the oil- 
drops would run together of themselves. There 
is, however, abundant proof that this is not 
necessarily so. The drops are able to preserve 
their identity if not violently disturbed; and 
even when so disturbed, they cannot be made 
to unite except within certain narrow limitB of 
temperature, while the milk itself remains pare 
Bud pudecomposed. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THE RISING OF CREAM. 
So long as these oil drops remain disunited 
they may be heated to scalding heat and cooled, 
even more than once, without injury to the 
butter. Under certain circumstances, thiB heat¬ 
ing will favor their separation from the milk 
by the action of gravity—that is, the rising of 
the oream. But if undisturbed, they will 
always tend towards the surfaco at all tempera¬ 
tures from scalding down to freezing ; and 
according to recent experience the colder the 
milk, so long as it remains fluid, the more 
quickly and completely this rising occurs. 
When these oil globules are cooled, they be¬ 
come solidified. They crowd toget her upon the 
surface of the milk closer and closer, hour by 
hour, so long as the milk lying between them 
remains sufficiently fluid to permit them to do 
so. This phenomenon, which is best observed 
when the milk is set to rise in a deep glass ves¬ 
sel, is cal’ed the “shrinking” of the cream; 
and if it is not understood, error will occur in 
estimating I ho comparative quantity of cream 
iu the milk of individual cows, since some 
creams “shrink” more quickly and more com¬ 
pletely than others. It is not, strictly speaking, 
a shrinking of the cream itself, but a drawing 
more closely together of the globules, which 
presses out the milk from between them. It is 
the largo globuled milk, such as that from Jer¬ 
sey cows, that exhibits this contraction most 
rapidly and strikingly, because the larger 
globules have the strongest relative attraction 
for each other in proportion to the resistance 
offered by the milk. 
BUTTER MAKING. 
In order to make the butter globules adhere 
together and form butter, it ih neoessary to 
agitate the cream in a suitable vessel at a proper 
temperature. If too cold, they will not adhere 
for the same reason that cold butter is 
“crumbly”—particles of fat not being adhesive 
at a low temperature. If, on the other hand, 
the cream is too warm, the action of the churn 
is ineffective to cause adhesion, since warm fat 
in a half-oily state will not cohere into a plastic 
mass, such as we expect butter to be. The 
temperature for securing the best results is in 
the neighborhood of sixty degrees. 
The physical condition of the butter globules, 
when they beoomo adherent under the aotion of 
the churn, has a very important inlt-:ence upon 
the commercial value of the product. As they 
j oin, globule to globule, the little pellets thus 
formed beooine, after a time, visible to the 
naked eye. Supposing the right temperature 
to have been preserved, now is a very critical 
period in the operation. “Over-churning” has 
the same effect as “ over-working” to destroy 
what is called “ the grain” of the butter. This 
“ grain” is the result, simply, of the preserva¬ 
tion of the form of the little pellets distinct 
even after their union, and this is effeoted by 
first lowering the temperature a little so as to 
harden them slightly, yet not enough to prevent 
cohesion of their sides when moderately pressed 
together. The method is usually to draw off 
the buttermilk as soon as the pelletB have 
reached the size of peas, and pour cold water 
into the churn, before going on to “ gather” 
the butter by further moderate churning. The 
succeeding operation of removing the adhering 
buttermilk and replacing it with a small quan¬ 
tity of strong, clear, pure brine (called “ work¬ 
ing”), requires the highest skill of the dairyman, 
and, supposing all preceding operations to have 
been rightly performed, iB the determining crisis 
that decides whether we Bb&U have a perfect 
product, waxy, and uniform iu texture and 
color, that oan be kept sweet for a long period, 
or a salvy, streaked mass, that hastens rapidly 
to rancidity. 
Thus I have tried to answer, briefly, the 
query, “ What is butter ?” and the facts stated 
are all of them important for butter makers to 
know, since they each have a direct and import¬ 
ant bearing upon the practical operations re¬ 
quired of them iu developing a “ gilt-edged” 
article of trade from the milk of their herds. 
. - 
WHICH BREED FOR THE DAIRY—NO. 1. 
L. S. HARDIN. 
DIFFICULTY OF FINDING OUT THE TRUTH. 
It is a fearful thing to tell the truth. You 
may not believe it, but it’s a fact. For instance, 
if you have ever made a laborious and con¬ 
scientious effort to sneoeed with any particular 
breed of cattle, sheep or chickens, or in growing 
any special crop of roots, fruits or foreign 
grasses, and ignominously failed, and then gone 
back and read up all the celebrated writers have 
published on the subject, the chaueeB are a 
dozen to one that in all your reading you did not 
find a single word relating to the very prom¬ 
inent, inevitable and unavoidable fault, habit or 
weakness in the breed or crop, that shipwrecked 
your fortunes. The writers know very well 
that bo far as getting readers is concerned, if 
they cannot speak well of a thing, they had 
better leave it alone. But fortunately for those 
who are desirous of getting at the truth of 
things, there are some of us not inappropriately 
termed "free lai.cos." Having been through 
the mill, we own no cows and write no books, 
if we tell an unpopular truth, the breeding 
world comes at us with blood in the eye, bnt 
having become somewhat expert at dodging, we 
say something good about the breed, and for a 
time the offence is forgotton. Of course, some 
correspondents become so expert at replying, 
that few enter the lists against them, unless they 
are guilty of a grosB mistake. 
These remarks are intended to preface a few 
short articles ou dairy breeds of cattle, wherein 
it iB my intention to give my candid opinion of 
the merits and demerits of the various breeds 
without the slightest hesitation or reservation. 
If any one will furnish me well-authenticated 
facts or statistics, I will cheerfully alter, amend 
or revoke any statement that these facts or 
figures prove to have been erroneous. It iB the 
truth we are after, and there are no pet theories 
to support. 
RELATIVE YIELDS OF MILK AND BUTTER. 
While I draw a strong distinction between 
beef breeds and dairy breeds of oattle, I cannot 
say that I have ever been impressed with the 
importance of that farther distinction which 
most, if not all, writers on the subject draw 
between what they call cheese and butter cows. 
The Jersey, Guernsey, and sometimes the Kerry 
and Swiss cattle are called butter cows, while 
the Ayrshire, Short-horn and Holstein are called 
cheese cows, whereas the poor native is dis¬ 
owned by both sets. It is, of course, true that 
the milk of the formor class is richer in buttor 
qualities than that of the latter. As a matter of 
fact, on an average the milk of the Channel 
Island cattle contains one-fifth more butter 
than the milk of the English or Dutch breeds, 
but if they give one-fifth less milk, unless there 
are other economical points about them, the 
thing is as long as it is broad. 
A few weeks ago I gave to the public a state¬ 
ment of the milk and butter yields of the various 
breeds that are now aspiring to dairy honors in 
thiB couutry. The tost was the average yield of 
a herd of not less than ten cows for one full 
year. I applied to all the noted dairymen in the 
country for statements of their herds, and, of 
course, used my judgment as to whiob were aulli- 
cieutly explicit and reliable to go on the record. 
From the best information I could get I made up 
the following table: 
Name of Breed. 
Short-horns. 
Ayrshirea. 
Jerseys. 
Natives. 
Hojeteina. 
No. of cows in 
the herd. 
Av. No. of lbs. 
milk per cow 
[ per annum- 
o 
4-» 
M 
BS 
i 5* 
28 
Actual. 
11 
5.469 
25 
14 
5.625 
20 
17 
Actual. 
12 
8,767 
35 
2 ( 12*4 
273 * 
281 
302 
850 
The Short-horns belonged to Harris Lewis, 
the Ayrshires to E. T. Miles, the Jerseys to 
E. Burnett, the Natives to 0. Bronson, and the 
Holsteins to H. C. Hoffman. This statement 
encroaches so closely upon the individual in¬ 
terests of breeders, laying, as it were, a rude 
hand upon their teuderest nerves, that few who 
were not directly interested in the matter cared 
to venture upon such dangerous territory, as the 
slightest slip would briug an avalanche of abuse 
upon the unfortunate victim. As it is, I have 
been able to gather but little further informa¬ 
tion, but I think it will be interesting to discuss 
the relative merits of the different breeds in the 
light of this comparison. 
'fc“P 
PROFIT IN KEEPING SHEEP. 
♦ 
An excellent farmer told me this year that for 
every sheep he kept he sold, in lambs and wool, 
an average of five dollars’ worth per head. He 
said also that his sheep paid him better than 
anything else grown on the farm. Five dollars 
are nearly ten cents per week, and during the 
pasture season sheep oan be kept at a cost of two 
to four cents per week. In the winter the cost 
is a little more; but if bean straw and other 
coarse fodder are freely used, winter keep need 
not be very expensive, and the manure would be 
worth a large part of the cost of feeding. I am 
not so clear about the profit in summering sheep. 
Where a farmer has a large amount of rough 
land unsuited to cultivation, Bheep will utilize it 
better than any other stock, provided the land is 
not wet as well as rough. On low or swampy 
83.63 per head and wool at 81.50. Not all the 
lambs were sold, the ewes being saved for breed¬ 
ing and about as many old sheep fattened in the 
winter as were saved of ewe lambs. To get such 
a price for lambs, they must be good ones. A 
full-blood Cotswold buck is used. As the ewe 
lambs are saved, the second cross is three-quarter 
blood, and the third is seven-eighth. Lambs 
even of the halt cross are very strong, thrifty 
and heavy for their age. They are commonly 
dropped in February and March. This requires 
close watching and warm quarters in cold and 
stormy weather ; but with those there is usually 
little loss, often loss than farmers suffer who 
have ordinary .lambs dropped iu April or May. 
The grade of the Cotswold buck on the common 
native sheep, is hardier than the thoroughbred. 
They need 'better feed than the common native 
lambs; but they pay well for all they get. It 
will pay well to have a field of winter rye 
to turn on early in the spring, after the 
weather becomes warm—better still if some 
grain is given to the ewe to stimulate her flow of 
milk, and as soon as the lamb is old enough to 
oat, to increase its size. Young lambs will begin 
to nibble at oats when two or three weeks old 
and will soon learn to eat greedily. Only a very 
little is needed iu addition to the dam’s milk. 
The larger the lamb, the higher the price per 
pound. This is an unvarying rule, bo the price 
high or low. I know no way in which a little 
grain will pay so surely and bo well as if fed to 
young lambs. Unless extra feed is given to the 
mother at least, early-dropped Cotswold grade 
lambs are apt to become stuuted aud will never 
fully recover. w - J - F - 
Cljt apiarian. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH BEES IN CALIFOR¬ 
NIA. 
I have seen several articles in the Uurad from 
bee-keepers, giving their cxperieuoe, success, 
profits, etc., with bees during the past season. 
With fifteen years’ experience in that business 
myself, in nortlie.n Ohio, I should say that 
they were more than ordinarily successful. 
Their success most certainly shows that brains 
are very essential to the bee-keeper to enable 
him to develop to the full extent, the capacity of 
his bees to collect and Btore the sweets that na¬ 
ture has so bountifully supplied. 
Herein southern California, bee-keeping is al¬ 
most another business from what it is East. We 
have scarcely one day of the three nuuarea ana 
sixty-five iu which the bees do not collect Borne 
honey. The swarming season commences the 
last of March and continues into August, thus 
affording an excellent opportunity for a strong 
colony to propagate its species and gather honey. 
Let me give the readers of the Rural a little 
item of bee culture, that came under my observa¬ 
tion the past season. 
Mr. J. Aroher—formerly a Michigan hoe- 
keeper—experimented with three several swarms, 
with the following results, an aooount of which 
was published from moDth to month in the 
Santa Barbara Press, as the experiment pro¬ 
gressed. 
From No. I no swarm was permitted to issue. 
The top, or honey board, was removed and an 
empty hive with frames was placed upon the 
first, and others added from tints to time, as the 
stock increased, until five hives were placed one 
above another. The honey was extracted as 
often as it became necessary to give the bees 
store-room. Seven hundred and thirty five 
pounds were tbus extracted, besides leaving 
enough in Btore to carry the bees safely to the 
next honey season. 
Nos. 2 and 3 were Bwarmed artificially. No. 2 
increased to thirty-six swarms, aud fifteen hun¬ 
dred and seventy-six pounds of strained honey, 
and sixty-five pounds of comb-honey were taken 
from it. No. 3 increased to twenty-four swarms, 
aud gave twelve-hundred and sixty pounds of 
Btraiued.honey and twenty-four pounds of comb- 
honey. With No. 3 the result would have been 
more favorable, had the bees remained in Mr. 
Archer’s apiary a month longer, but they were 
removed to auother place in the beginning of 
August At this time, the greater part of tho 
hives contain very much more honey than is 
neoessary to carry the bees to tho next season. 
R F. Binoham. 
lands sheep will not do well, are liable to foot- 
rot and other diseases. But if a farmer has only 
clover pasture, let him beware of sheep. Either 
he must feed so light as to get little benefit from 
his pasture, or he will ruin tho young clover— 
and he may do both. Sheep and clover both im¬ 
prove the farm, but they will not do it together. 
One neutralizes the other. That “ tho foot of 
the sheep is golden,” is a proverb only true 
when pastures are filled with natural grasses and 
the herbage is made sweeter and richer from be¬ 
ing kept closely cropped. 
Five-dollars-per-head sales from a flock of 
sheep pre-Buppose a good many ewes, nearly or 
quite as many lambs as shet p and a good market 
for t tbora. My friend this year Bold lambs at 
[T CROP REPORT FOR THE SAN JOSE 
VALLEY, CAL. 
st winter was a very wet one ove r the en- 
tate, and drv weather came suddenly, wit 
,ur usual gradually diminishing showers, 
of all kinds ripened more nearly together 
is section than ever before. Early Boa- 
Early Rivers’s and Early Louise peaches 
ed at the Bamo time. Plums which are 
ly far apart, as the Prince of Wales and 
(haw, ripened simultaneously. Prices for 
fruit were, on the whole, lower than ever 
•o. Cherries of the Black Tartarian and 
1 Ann varieties brought 12c. per lb. ; other 
