Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1874-05-22
Farm and Fireside.
Condensed NIiIk---IIOw il is made at the
Factory in West BrOOkheId. Mass.

Condensed IiIk---IIOw il is made at the
Factory in West ErOOhhrId. N7aSs.
The process Of manufacture, like Column
bus's feat of making an egg stand on end,
is simple enough when you have seen it
done, and easily described. The milk is
received daily Sundays excepted from
the surrounding farmers i'm the regulation
cam. which holds 20 pounds or 9i quarts Of
milk. After weighing, the milk is strained
through the finest Of wire straincrs into cop.
per buckets holding about 80 quarts each,
and these are then placed in Il large tank Of
warm water, through which runs Il col! OF
steam pipe. Steam being applied The tenn
perature Of the milk is raised to $40 de-
grees, vixen the cans are taken cut and the
milk is again strained into large, open
wrought iron boiler. Here the milk is
brougt 10 a boiling heat by means of steam
passing between the Outer AMI inner jack
cts Of the boiler. The object of these sue
cessive heatings is to eXpcl the albumuu,
which is found adhering 10 the copper cans,
the straiuers and tle sides Of the boilers.
These, of course, are carefully cleaned each
day, and in fact, everything about the es-
adjustment, is subject to almost continu-
Gus washing. As soon as the milk boils,
the sugar, without which it will not keep
for any great length of time, is added one
pound aud two ounces of the very best
granuated sugar being used for every gal
Ion OF milk. The sweetencd compound is
now pumped slowly into the evaporation, a
huge spherical copper boiler with a worm
of steam pipe in the bottom, the whole re-
semblinG those used at Il sugar refinery.
Steam being forced through the worm, Of
course, raises the temperature Of the milk,
which in turn throws of steam. THIS pass
es off through a large pipe leading into
cold chamber, where the steam is at ouce
condensed by a stream IF cold water fall
ing upon and through it. Asa drop Of wa
ter takes up only 1-lS0O as much space as
The same water did when in the form o.
steam, il will readily he seen that vacu-
um is rapidly formed. This vacuum is on
ly partial in the evaporation, amounting to
removal of the atmospheric pressure to
such an extent that the milk bols at l35
degrees. The water is drawn from the cold
chamber by Il double acting pump, and
this constant removal Of the water makes
condensed as above. Should the pump be
worked too rapidly, not only steam but
milk would rush along the pipe into the
condenser and the waller discharged by the
pipe would be white. After the milk has
been eyaporated about one-fourth its first
weight, the proper consistency being ascer-
tanned by drawing oil a small quantity and
testing it, as the good housewife Of the last
generation did her soap, to see if it had
"come," it is drawn off into large buckets
and cooled in ice to about 10 degrees. Then
the milk, which has now the consistency
and appearance Of good cream, and slight
ly resembles honey in taste, is put into the
pound cans of the trade, soldered, labeled
and packed in cases for shipment. The
process of manufacture occupies about sew
en- hours.
Tho milk so prepared will keep any mum
Der oil years in any climate, but for imme-
mediate use the company manufacture each
day few hundred pounds of 'plan milk"
that is, milk condensed in the same man
ner except that no sugar is added. The
plain is shipped to Boston each day, and is
mainly used in and around that city. It
will not generally keep over 10 days. The
average daily production of both kinds is
1900 pounds. About 20 tons Of sugar are
used annually.