The Florida agriculturist., 1884-12-03

| its excellence. 1t is not the water
(which gets all through it, and causes it
to work and ferment - it is the butter
milk that does the mischief which Mrs.
K. S. ascribes to the water. Pure water
contains nothing which can induce fer
mentation, while we can see without
microscope, the particles of unchurned
cream, and other matter suspended in
the buttermilk. Just as soon as the but
termilk begins to change-which it does
within forty-eight hours-a decomposi-
ton takes place more or less rapidly, as
favored by the degree of heat and expo
sure, and this decomposition makes the
butter rancid. l.. B. Arnold, T. ID. Cur
tis, John Guild, Mrs. Fanny Morley, all
our practical dairymen and writer's on
dairy topics, tell us this 1t has been
demonstrated beyond doubt by repeat
ed and re-repeated experiments. Now,
/ leave it to a Jury of my country-wo-
men," which method is best calculated
to remove this deteriorating element,
the washing the granulated butter-each
granule an eXaggeration of atoms of pure
butter-while suspended in the butter
milk, in weak brine or pure water, al
lowing it to carry off the sugar, caseine
and acids of the buttermilk; or the at
tempt to accomplish the same thing by
the pressing and squeezing out process
which we call working. The sugar and
caseine are soluable in water, the brine
ceagulates the albumen; it seems plain
enough these foreign substances can be
dissolved out much more readily than
they can be worked out, which latter
method is far more apt to divide and
subdivide the drops of buttermilk, and
incorporate them in the butter, only to
be removed by laborious working at the
risk of injuring the texture OF the butter
II washing butter is Contrary to the
laws of nature" it is no more so than
manufacture of butter itself, which
is nowhere taught by natures process
ses.
Mrs. r. S. excellent butter owes it's
good qualities, am inclined to believe,
more to her care and painstaking in the
matter of getting out the buttermilk than
to its never having been treated to a
bath. If the working is thorough, and
not continued till the grain and "waxy''
appearance is destroyed, we shall have
good, well-keeping butter But if worked
too long,-and the time of working can
never be arbitrarily fixed, since temper
ature varies, with other conditions
we have salvy, greasy" butter, with
no grain" which, however long it may
keep, is never classed as 'tgilt-edged.
Our best butter-makers who pride them
selves upon their reputation for strictly
first-class article, all our standard cream
aries, wash their butter as described in
the Household of August 18th. l.. B.
Arnold says no butter is considered
fancy" which is not separated from the
buttermillSin this way. 9N#A n
As regards the keeping qualities of
washed butter, Henry Steward, the well
known authority on dairying, tells us he
kept a fifty pound pail of washed butter
one year. it then brought three cents
per pound above the. price o., fresh but
ter, sent to the New York market with
it, from an ordinary commission man.
1t was washed in the churn with weak
brine, after the buttermilk had been
drawn off, and was salted.
Net ! will admit such butter as / have
described seldom keeps Z there is such
demand for it that the supply is never
sufficient. But it would not disturb the
serenity of the manufactures to know
that, properly packed, it was to take an
ocean voyage to Denmark, to be COM
pared with the famous Danish butter
made in the same fashion, which bears
nm excellent reputation in London and
Continental cities.
The selection of churn is often
matter of debate. Good butter can be
made in any form of churn, if only it's
principle of working be understood. A
churn too full of cream will waste but
ter, much of the cream will be taken
away with the buttermilk. Too thick
cream may be wasted because it cannot
i
churned rapidly with fine floats, may be
beaten into froth from which no good
butter can ever be produced. incline
to believe churn should never be more
than half full of cream-better less than
more when churned. Give the proper
temperatureo of the cream, good sound
cream, neither too thick nor too thin,
and not too great quantity, and good
butter can be made in almost any churn.
-Beatrir, an Michigan Farmer.