1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
171 
should have a light tin cover (fig. 2), not wired at 
the edge, and furnished with three studs sitting 
inside the can to hold it in place. In the center 
there should be a hole, 
one inch in diameter, 
for ventilation. With a 
dairy of ordinarily good 
cows, three cans will be 
required for ten cows. 
(8.) A conical skim¬ 
ming dipper (fig. 3), four 
or five inches in dia¬ 
meter at the top and 
pointed at the bottom, 
the top not wired, and 
the handle, which rises 
vertically from the dip¬ 
per, attached a little be¬ 
low the top on the inside. 
(4.) Larger cans, with 
tightly - fitting covers, 
for holding the cream. 
Fig. 1. —MILK-CAN. 
(5.) A churn of whatever form may be con¬ 
sidered best. 
(6.) A butter-worker, of which there are 
several good varieties, none better in my opinion 
than a white-oak table, sloping a little, with a 
groove around the edge, to convey the butter¬ 
milk to one point, "whence it drips into a pail; 
and a two-handled white-oak paddle for mani¬ 
pulating the mass. 
(7.) A sponge, live or six inches in diameter, 
of the soft coarse-grained variety sold by drug¬ 
gists as bathing sponges. (8.) A suitable mold 
for making the butter into pats. (9.) Square 
pieces of the cheapest and thinnest bleached 
muslin, large enough to inclose the pats. (10.) 
A Philadelphia butter-tub, figured in a previous 
number of the Agriculturist , 
which is a high oval tub con¬ 
taining a tin case, of which 
the ends are partitioned off 
Fig. 2.— cover. for ice, and the center furnish¬ 
ed with studs to support light 
wooden shelves to hold the layers of butter. 
These utensils being provided, the process is 
as follows: The milk is taken immediately from 
the stable to the milk-room (not allowed to stand 
and absorb the odor of the stable), and is strained 
into the cans, filling them to within about two 
inches of the top. As soon as a can is filled it 
is set into the tank and the cover placed upon 
it. It will often happen that the last can is not 
sufficiently filled to sink deep enough to float 
erect, and there should be one or more strings 
pendent from the ceiling to be made fast to its 
bail and keep it straight. At the next milking 
this can should not be disturbed, but the entire 
mess should be put into fresh cans. Just before 
the third milking time (after 24 hours’ sitting), 
the first lot of cans should be carefully lifted 
out of the tank and skimmed with the conical 
dipper, the cream being put into the cream can. 
Just before the fourth milking time the second 
lot of cans should be skimmed in like manner. 
If necessary, toward evening of the day before 
churning, the cream-cans should be taken out 
of the water and placed in a warmer room, so 
that the temperature of the cream will rise to 
from 60° to 62k If it is cold weather, and it is 
necessary to stand the cream in a room with a 
fire, the cans should be set on a table, as the air 
toward the floor, even in a heated room, is often 
too cold. We find it best to have two butter 
days a week—Tuesday and Friday. Early in 
the morning, the churn, which has stood un¬ 
covered and in a well-ventilated place since its 
last use, is thoroughly scalded, and then rinsed 
opt with lukewarm water in winter, and cold 
water fresh from the well in summer. Cream 
is then poured in, and the churn kept in motion, 
without interruption, until the butter comes. 
When the butter has all formed, it is gathered by 
a slow, rocking motion of the paddles, the plug 
is removed, and the buttermilk withdrawn. It 
is sometimes, but not always, necessary to rinse 
down the paddles before the butter gathers. 
The buttermilk having run off as well as it 
will, the plug is returned to its place, and two 
or three dipperfuls of water of suitable tem¬ 
perature, according to the season, are thrown 
in, and the paddles are worked slowly back and 
forth for a moment,when this water is drawn off 
and a second supply is added in like manner. If 
this water is quite milky a third supply is added. 
This is the only washing that the butter receives. 
It tends to consolidate the mass, and to remove 
the most of the buttermilk. 
The butter is then taken out, about 10 lbs. at a 
time, and placed upon the working table,which, 
as well as the paddle, has been previously scald¬ 
ed, and washed with cold water. The butter is 
then flattened out with the paddle, its surface 
being gashed and checked (but not cut entirely 
through) in both directions by its blunt edge. 
When it is thoroughly cut over, the paddle is 
laid aside, and the sponge, well wrung out of 
cold water, is firmly patted over the whole sur¬ 
face, and over so much of the table as may con¬ 
tain buttermilk from the working. It is then 
returned to its vessel of water, and witlr the 
paddle the butter is turned over, rolled together, 
flattened out, and again manipulated with the 
blunt edge, and the sponge, wrung out clean 
and dry, is again used. Tins process is repeated 
until the butter is thoroughly dry, no globules 
of water (or perspiration) being perceptible 
when it is manipulated with the paddle. 
Then the requisite quantity ^ 
of salt (Onondaga Dairy 
salt being in our opinion 
the best) is sprinkled over 
it, and thoroughly incorpo¬ 
rated with it by a short but 
rapid working. The butter is 
then packed in the bottom 
of a cream-can and covered 
up. Another mass is taken 
from the churn, similar¬ 
ly prepared, and packed 
closely upon it. The can 
is then set in a place neither 
too cold nor too warm, and 
allowed to remain until the 
next working, either from 
morning until toward even¬ 
ing, or from evening until 
morning. The butter is then 
worked again, and if neces¬ 
sary, though it generally 
is not, the sponge is used 
to remove any brine that 
may appear. Immediate¬ 
ly after this working the 
butter is molded into pats, 
turned from the mold with its lower side 
placed on the center of one of the squares of 
muslin, which has been freshly wrung out of 
clear cold water. Any inequality of the edge 
of the pat is smoothed over, two opposite cor¬ 
ners of the cloth are turned over the top, and 
with the other two the pat is lifted into its place 
in the butter-box and completely covered over. 
In winter-time this butter may be transported 
to any distance without ice, but as soon as the 
weather becomes warm the compartments at 
the ends of the box should be filled with broken 
ice, which will keep it cool, with proper care, 
Fig. 3.— SKIMMER, 
and each pat is 
for twenty-four hours. When the butter and 
ice are ready for market, the top should be fitted 
on to the box and secured in its place by the 
stick which passes through the handles of the 
tub, and fastened with a lock if to be trans¬ 
ported by public conveyance. If carried in an 
open wagon, the box should be covered with a 
blanket to shelter it from the sun. 
Concerning the quantity of salt to be used, it 
is impossible to give directions to suit all tastes. 
We use about one ounce of salt to two pounds 
of butter. Most markets would require one 
ounce of salt to one pound of butter, or even 
more than this. 
The butter being dispatched, one of the most 
important labors of the dairy remains to be per- 
formed—that is, the thorough scalding, and 
cleansing, and sunning, and airing of every 
utensil that has been used in its manufacture. 
The sun and air are great purifiers, and will re¬ 
move any tendency to taint, provided all extra¬ 
neous matter has first been carefully removed, 
but not otherwise. After the utensils have 
been put out to air, the room itself should be 
thoroughly cleansed and ventilated, and at least 
once in a month the walls should be limc- 
washed. 
The question of artificial coloring is important 
to be understood. Unless one has a profusion 
of colored roots or of early cut hay or rowan, 
the butter will be at some time during the win¬ 
ter too white to be attractive. We have tried a 
great variety of processes for coloring, but until 
recently have had great difficulty in securing 
perfect uniformity. Carrot-juice put in the 
churn is often very good, but sometimes a bitter 
root will escape detection, and its juices will 
seriously affect the flavor of the butter; the 
color will also vary in intensity. Annalto and 
aunattoine, as ordinarily used, require more 
judgment to secure uniformity than can always 
be commanded. We have now been using for 
some time a preparation of annattoine made 
according to Burrell’s recipe, and find it as 
nearly perfect as could be hoped for. The re¬ 
cipe is as follows: Put 1 lb. of annattoine in 
2 gals, of clear spring water, and let it stand 24 
hours, stirring frequently. Put 1 lb. of potash 
and i lb. sal-soda in H gal. cold water. When 
these are all dissolved, settled, and skimmed, 
pour the clear liquor into the solution of an- 
natto. Let the compound stand some days, 
stirring occasionally. Keep the preparation in 
stone jugs or in bottles in a dark place. Shake 
before using, and put into the churn one table¬ 
spoonful for each five quarts of cream—more 
or less, according to the depth of color desired. 
By using always the same proportion, the same 
shade will always be produced. 
I believe that an adherence to the foregoing 
directions will secure as good a result as the 
character of the cows in the dairy is capable of. 
With Jersey cows or grade Jerseys, there is no 
doubt that a much finer quality of butter can 
be made than with any other breed; and in the 
long run, the best utensil for making “Gilt- 
edged Butter ” will be found to be a thorough¬ 
bred Jersey bull. 
The butter being made, half the battle is 
fought. The other half will be to make a mar¬ 
ket for it. The secret in doing this is to make 
it known, by whatever means may be available, 
that the butter bearing your stamp is good—and 
always good. No matter about price at first, 
secure at the outset a good class of customers, 
at half-price if necessary, and make your butter 
a necessity to them. You will secure, as soon 
as you deserve it, a demand for your whole 
product at more than the usual market price. 
