Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-08-28
An Essay on Butter-making.
BILL NYE WRITES LEARNEDLY ON THIS PAR
TICULAR FINE ART.

Butter is the mature fruit of the full blown
COW. 1t is the greatest effort of her life.
The COW tolls not, neither does she spin, yet
say unto you that Solomon in all his glory
could not beat her on hand made. or rather
milk maid butter. This subtle joke l have
repaired and newly upholstered for use dur
ing the summer
Butter comes from the COW in liquid
state. 1t is quite trick to win her conf
lence so that she will yield it up to total
stranger. | once sought to WOO the tactical
fluid from the milk retort of large speckled
COW, to whom l was a comparative stranger
She wasn't one of those blooded cows that
look as though they have been cut out of a
sheet of paper with a pair of scissors. She
was 0w COW with very coarse instincts, born
in obscurity.
Her brow was low, but she wore her tail
high, and she was haughty-oh, so naughty !!
The young man who had hitherto acquired
the milk from this cow desired one fine even
ing to HE him away to a neighboring village,
where he might trip the light bombastc toe
till the "Wee sma' hours ayont the twa'."
(Quotation from poet who was poor spell
er) He wanted me to milk his large,
speck led plebeian COW. and l said I would
The movement was certainly ill-advised. l
L
From the moment l entered her stall and
made commonplace remark to her, | knew
our acquaintance would not lead to a warm
attachment
Somehow I felt constrained and uneasy in
her society, from the moment we met, until
loving friends pulled me through the stable
window. and brought me back to conscious
ness.
shall never undertake to milk strange
COW again until the sign is right. So far the
sign has not been right.
might be sent on polar expedition, and
get stranded on an iceberg. with no other al
tentative but to milk COW or eat an old
friend: but should hate to tackle the COW
unless the friend was a very old friend indeed
Butter is produced by expunging the juice
from a rare and costly chemical known as
cream. Cream is the bead on the milk.
Milk is known as dry and extra dry. A
good milkman will always ask you whether
you want your milk wet or otherwise.
An old well-digger named Grady. told me
about going over into Southern Indiana at
one time to dig a well for a man named
Withum. Withum was said to be very close.
He was the most contiguous man in Indiana.
His wife use to skim the milk on one side,
and then turn it over and skim the bubbles
of. 1t was constant struggle between
Withum and his wife to see who would be
the meaner.
The first day that Grady was there, they
had round ball of butter about as big as a
lemon and as hard as Pharaoh's heart The
bu!ter-knife had a handle that would turn
every time any one tried to get a lick at the
butter, and the little round ball would flop
over on the other side and smile.
Now and then a hired man would reach
over with his own knife, and make slash at
the butter; but the butter. confident of it.
own strength, would tip over with dull thud,
and the man would heave a sigh and give it
up
Then another farm hand would make a
wild dash at it, but burst into tears, and quit.
| Finally, Grady, who had watched this per-
| formance several days, jabbed his fork down
through the middle of the yellow chunk, and
successfully cut it in two. In the centre was
a small wooden top.
"There, said Grady. 1--WE found out wha,
the blamed thing is wound on, anyhow