Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-31
A Prize Butter Max rs Method.

ccssful dairying than Iowa. All the
kinds Of food best adapted to the
making Of butter can be raised with
out stint. Roots, corn, fodder, oats,
clover and timothy are the crops that
yield the richest abundance. But
two important conditions are wanting
to make Iowa Il great butter-produc-
ing State. The first is the general
introduction of the butter-producing
breeds of cows. The second, the adj
vent of greater skill, zeal and care in
the process of butter-making. The
first necessity is in Il fair way of be-
ing supplied as the years pass. Our
annual fairs show a constant increase
of Jersey cows in nearly all the coun-
ties. But the second demand is not
in the way of early supply. 1t takes
special experience and aptness and
even enthusiasm to make butter on
any considerable scale success.
The amount of poor butter manufac-
tured on Iowa farms Is beyond the
grasp of arithmetic, and the money
wasted thereby would finish ourState
House in two years.
The vital Importance Of this subject
leads us to yield space in our crowded
columns fol portion of the prize essay
lately read at the Vermont Dalrymen's
Meeting, by Mrs. J. T. Ellsworth, OF
Barre, Mass. Her article on butter
making is on the whole the best we
have ever read. Itcomes to us through
the ". Y. Tribune:
"Thcre are breeds which are partic-
ularly adapted for butter making, and
in all breeds there are doubtless good
cows for this purpose, but i'll most
breeds there are COWS which are eX-
ceedingly Door and a positive injury,
and should be promptly disposed of
before attempting to make good but
ter. This can be ascertained by set
ting each cows milk by itself, and
making butter of it. She must be in
good flesh to expect a high flavor
and high colored product. She must
also have good, rich food to eat, such
as early cut hay, rowen, Indian meal,
shorts, few roots, and :. teaspoonful
of salt each morning. She must be
regularly fed, watcred and, MIXED,
kept warm and clean in cold weather
but in stable properly ventilated.
In summer she must have plenty of
good, sweet grass, so that she will
not have to resort to foul grasses or
weeds to sustain life, and also to
make milk, with plenty Of pure wa
ter. And it is Of the utmost inpor-
lance that the milking be done in
neat manner, as a small amount of
filth will cause great amount Of
mischief
"The daiiy-room should be situat-
ed above ground, where the tempera-
ture can be controlled, avoiding if
possible, southerly exposure, with
proper ventilation. Tie air should
be admitted to the room near the
floor, so that no wind can be blown
upon the milk from any source.
There should be blinds on the win
dows to control the light, as strong
light will affect the color of the
cream. The temperature should be
from 90 to IS degrees, to raise cream
of the best quality and color. 1t
must be kept perfectly free from all
taints or odors of every kind, as milk
and cream are very easily tainted,
and these odors and taints will all be
concentrated in the butter. One of
the first conditions by which to Sc
cure good butter is, that every uten-
sill used, from the milk pail to the
butter firkin, or box, must be kept
clean and sweet. Pals made of tin
are preferable, but if wooden pals
and packages or boxes are used, they
can be kept sweet by thorough
washing and cleansing with strong
lime water, scalding and drying in
the sun. The pans should be wash
ed in two waters each time, being
made as clean as possible, then scald-
ed with boiling water. The churn,
butter tray, ladle, and butter worker
must be washed and scalded in the
same manner.
To say how, or in what kind of pan
to set milk, would, perhaps, be assum-
ing too much, but l will say, without
hesitation, that in my opinion, the
poorest and most laborious way to set
milk is in the six quart pans so COM
monty used. Under ordinary circum-
stances SO hours is long enough for
the milk to stand before skimming;
in cold weather it may be well to let
it remain IL hours longer. 1t is not
advisable to let cream remain too
long, exposed to the air, simply to in
crease the quantity at the expense of
the quality of the butter. There
should be considerable milk skinned
with thick cream for churning. If
you churn very thick, stiff cream, the
butter will have dull, oily appear
ance, while on the other hand, if you
have considerable milk with it, it
will have clean, bright look. When
cream is kept from one skimming to
another, add little salt each time,
and it should be well stirred as often
as new Is added. 1t should never be
kept too long before churnng, never
longer than a week -four or five days
is better), at any rate never after
acidity develops itself. Deep Tin pals
are preferable for cream, rs they are
convenient for tempering it for
churning. If the cream is too cold,
it is easily brought to the right tenn
peraturc by setting the pail IN hot
water, stirring continually, until the
thermometer indicates 60 degrees, or
if it is too warm, put the pail ill ice
water, and cool it to Sc or So de-
grees, according to the weather.
"The wood of the churn should be
tempered as well as the cream. If it
has been kept in n cold room in win
ter, hot water should be allowed to
remain in it'll it has warmed through,
to a temperature Of 60 degrees. This
oftentimes will save one hours time
In churning. Churning, washing and
sailing has more to do with making
good butter than many suppose. We
often hear people praislng such and
such a churn as their pet churn, be-