66 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 
Such was the butter made without machinery and suitable appliances, by the^tlmm 
process” and unskilled labor. And yet, away back twenty-live or thirty years as. 
we occasionally met with a woman (men did not make butter then) who, in the fa( 
of all difficulties made good butter—at least it seems so to me. Perhaps I carry wit 
me to this day the fascination of the keen relish which young people nave for am 
thing they like. However, mv mother, who resided in Eastern Pennsylvania, was 
good butter-maker. 
Her butter was sought for by the people of the village who would eat none othe 
My earliest recollection recalls the stationary barrel churn with dashers inside, whic 
she used weekly in cold weather and semi-weekly in summer. A thermometer wa 
not known on the farm until many years la*er. It would be a curiosity to the moq 
ern butter-maker to know how she tempered her ere im for churning. She well undeit 
stood the importance of temperature, and to attain it she used spring water in sun 
mer and her kitchen stove in winter. Iler sense of touch was so acute that she coul< 
trust her tore finger as a a thermometer the year round. But few can do that. Sh 
was the first in her neighborhood to introduce artificial color into butter in winteil 
and commanded an extra price on account of it. Her color was the extract of grate, 
carrots. Many years later annottoine came into use. She knew nothing of themoc 
ern practice of working out the buttermilk. The butter was gathered while in tfa 
buttermilk and worked in a small tube with paddle to extract the buttermilk, an 
then-salted. A second working was had after the sa t was dissolved, and then it wa 
made up mto nice, shapely prints ready for the market. Cleanliness was practice, 
tirst, last, and alwavs. My mother's methods furnish an indication of a pedigree i 
butter-making which has led on to a family of fine manufacturers around Philadelphi 
and Baltimore. They have their special customers the year round in those cities 
who pay a fancy price for a fancy article, often reaching 75 cents per pound. Asid' 
rrom a specially fine flavor, the scrupulous cleanliness attending the manufacturin 
and the tasty way of putting it up, in my judgment our best Elgin creameries ar 
fully equal to these Pennsylvania dairies.' 
Of devices for setting milk for cream-raising, the number is a legion. We hav 
the common cylindrical deep setter, with or without a graduated glass in the side 
'v e have the system of submerged setting, and numerous setters claimed to cool mil 
trom the center and outside alike. Some of these have patent automatic arrange 
ments tor skimming. Then we have pan setters, some deep, some shallow 7 . Weals,, 
have the vat setting, cooling from water around the bottom ana sides, and by watd 
pumped through tubing which ramifies the milk. Each of these systems has its advq 
cates and some probably have merit, but the truth is that no field of labor or industr 
has been more completely bamboozled with worthless patents than that of butten 
making. This is especially true of appliances for cream-raising. Many of them ar 
constructed without reference to scientific principles, are sold at an enormous price 
and are practically worthless. After all that lias been said and done, Simplicity sit 
upon the throne of successful butter-making, and there is no plan of milk setting fo 
cream-raising, superior to the plain eight or eight and .a half inch deep setter, kep 
clean inside and out, set in a pool of clear, cold water, in a cool, well-ventilated room 
and free from all bad odors. During a period of from twenty-four to forty-eigli 
hours, the cream will rise to perfection and can be taken off skilfully and rapidly wit 
a cone skimmer in the hands of an expert workman. Then follows the dumping o 
the skimmed milk into the vats for cheese making, wdiile the cream is put into tanks 
vats or setters, where it is properly tempered and held through the ripening process 
this usually requires twenty-four hours at a temperature of 60 deg. in summer, an 
tumu and spring, and 66 deg. in the cold weather of winter. Under no circumstance 
should the temperature of the cream be allowed to go above 70 deg. 
It is the easiest thing imaginable to spoil a churning of butter by over-heatin; 
the cream during the ripening process. Xo subsequent good treatment can mend th 
mischief. Though the cream be churned and the butter washed in very cold water 
the butter will still lack firmness, and will soften down upon very slight exposure t< 
a warm temperature. This is a fact not fully appreciated by those who attempt t< 
make good butter. The cream should be thoroughly stirred several times during th< 
ripening period. It facilitates the even development of acid, prevents the foimatioi 
ot a^ropy scum on the top, and oxidizes the cream bv bringing the globules in frequen 
contact with the atmosphere, which is now believed to have much to do in producing 
the fine flavor of butter so much sought after bv the trade experts and critical con 
sinners. But let me say right here that all rosy flavor in butter, from whatever sourci 
obtained, will be most effectually killed if the cream is set, during the ripening pro 
cess, where there is bad odor from any cause. Xot only this, but if the odor is ver 
marked, the butter resulting from such cream will taste and smell decidedly like tin 
odor which has been absorbed by the cream. To illustrate the point: During last Julj 
a J 1 ^nutacturer in DeKalb county sold seventy-five tubs of butter on the Elgin Board 
subject to inspection before it left the creamery. Most of this was gathered 
cream butter. The buyer visited the creamery the next day.'and after going througl 
