The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1855-07-07

uaflng seen any answer 10 tne same ifOl
farmers, to whom the question was propoI
ed, purpose to give you and your reader
an answer, arrived at by actual weight {
the different substances spoken Of, togett
er with such other facts ss think will b
of interest and use to farmers and peopl
generally.
MIX is natural compound, compose
of water, holding in solution sugar and sa
line substances Of various kinds; it ais
has suspended in it olenginous (oily) parti
cles, and also particles of albumen of
particular nature, called casein. lis con
stitution was somewhat understood lonI
before science threw any light on the mat
ter; for instance, it has been we'll knowr
ever since the first use of the milk of ami
mails, that certain amount of oily globulel
would rise to the surface of all milk aftel
the same had been standing a length o.
time, and from that time to the present
experiments have been made TO determine
accurately the surest manner of causing all
the oil in milk to come to the surface
The simple fact that cream comes to the
surface of milk, when allowed to remain al
rest, proves beyond doubt, in accordance
with the well known laws of gravity, tina,
lighter substances, when free to move, al.
ways come to the surface: Thus, copper
will, when in bulk, rise to the surface oi
ofmelted lead. The specific gravity OF new
milk is about 1890; Of cream 1924; that OF
skinned milk being about 1888; water be.
ing 1000. 1t cannot be determined with ac-
curacy from the weight of milk alone,
whether IL is rich in butter or not, for the
fact that water, added to poor milk in "quan.
suf." will make its specific gravity corres-
pond with that of the richest milk: but il
will also have this other effect; of making
such compound too thin to pass a close
inspection without detection Of the fraud
and, for this reason, those who practice the
adulteration of milk, attempt to restore
its CONSISTENCY by the addition of chalk,
whiting, rnagnesa, &c.
Again. milk that is poor in oily glo-
bules and that, will make but little but.
ter, may be the richest milk, after all
to the farmer. In the process of making
butter, the agitation of the cream is pro-
duced to separate the oil from the PARTICLES
OF aIbumen and water impregnateG with
suits and sugar as before spoken Of which,
by the levity of the oil globules have been
carried to the surface of the milk with them
and this residue, thus separated. Butter
milk is in fact simply milk without any
butter and with not the usual proportional
quantity of casein, and the fact of its taste,
confirms the presence Of q larger quantity
of saline matter. The whole value of
cream is not by any means, abstracted
when the oil is all taken out of it. for there
still remains in the residue some albumen
only waiting the presence of some acid, to
be converted into cheese; and its presence
is demonstrated by time alone; for, after
butter-milk has stood while, its sugar, by
decomposition, is converted into Tactic acid,
and this, as we'll as rennet has the property
of coagulating this form of albumen. This
change that takes place in butter-milk ac-
counts for rancid butter, in this way: Yhe
butter-milk not being thoroughly worked
out, in time the sugar contained in it under.
goes the above change, and imparts to such
butter its dis" greeable taste. 1t has long
been question with farmers, whether they
saved any money by skimming their milk
before making cheese from it. This will
depend altogether on circumstances. If|
they throw away their buttcr.milk, they alb
stract from the weight of that days cheese
what the albumen left, therein would weigh,
and also nearly the weight of the butter ta-
ken from it. I say nearly, because all the
butter in milk, if net skinned, will not
be in the cheese, but only so much of it as
becomes entangled in the curd after the ac-
ID is applied. This is proved by the fact that
q large quantity Of oil globules arise to the
surface of the whey when left to stand; al
tered, it is true, by the action OF the rennet
applied to coagulate the ulbumen. TAX
ng, then, the facts above stated for data, and
We come to the following conclusions:
lst. That nothing, certainly, can be told
If the good qualities of COW, for butter,
~ the weight of her milk, alone; but, the
same quarts of milk, rich in butter, will
weigh less than that milk rich in cheese;
Ind the rich milk may weigh just the same
Is milk rich in neither cheese or butter, but
having an excess of water.
I'd. A farmer may make more money out
'f his butter and cheese ii he returns his
,utter-milk to his skinned milk before ap-
,Iying the rennet, than he can make out of
either alone; but, he will have to buy grease
or his cheese, and corn for his hogs. For
hese reasons it is doubtful whether, making
kimmed cheese pays. Yours Resp.
JIG. WILLIS.