PRACTICAL PAPERS—BUTTER FACTORIES. 
215 
Fig.The Wescott Return Butter Pail. The greatest attention 
is paid to have the pack¬ 
ages perfectly tight, so as 
not to permit the least 
leakage. White oak is 
regarded as the best ma¬ 
terial for packages, and 
the butter factories use 
no other. The firkins hold 
about 100 lbs. each. The 
half-firkin is simply the firkin sawed in two, and provided 
with an oak head, which is nailed on the top of the package 
after it is filled. 
These pails are made of white oak, and are hooped with iron 
bands. They are manufactured at Belmont, 1ST. Y 
The firkin is prepared for use by soaking in cold water, after 
that in scalding water, and then again in cold water. It is 
then either filled with brine and soaked twenty-four hours, or 
the inside is thoroughly rubbed with dry salt, and left to stand 
for a short time, when it is considered ready for use. 
In packing the butter it is pressed together as solidly as may 
be, and when the firkin is filled it is immediately headed up, 
and a strong brine poured through a hole in the top head, to 
fill all the intervening spaces. The orifice is then closed, and 
the firkin is set in a cool cellar until it is ready to be sent to 
market. When the half-firkin is filled, a dry cloth, cut so as 
to entirely cover the butter, is spread over it, and covered with 
a thin layer of salt The cover is then fastened on, and the 
package is set away in a dry cool place until it is taken to 
market. 
MARKETING. 
The butter factories usually have orders for butter as fast as 
it is made, so that the consignments are from week to week. 
In Orange county the manner of marketing butter differs from 
that practised in other localities. Consignments are not gener¬ 
ally made direct to the city dealers, but they are intrusted to 
u captains,” as they are called, or persons who make it a busi- 
