The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1890-02-08
A TALK ABOUT BUTTER.
A NlLKMAlo TELLS OF THE PRO-
cEssEs OF IT'S MAKING.

Young woman who has been recently
married and who superintends the keep
ing of the dearest house in the world.
[ was rather amused at the remark and
at the tone of advice. To me it seemed
inexpressibly funny, as thought | knew
better than she did, having seen those
mysterious processes called butter max
ing. Wondering if there were others
who knew no more about that rather
necessary article, l resolved that would
enhghten the public, and beginning with
a cow-a red COW, think, called Cherry
Il would tell the whole story of how
butter is made, and perhaps prove that
other butter is made of cream, too.
Cherry stands up TO her knees in red
clover and, rapidly but not greediy.
bites off the glowing heads. Nobody
knows how many "four leaf clovers" sht
has swallowed; perhaps, that is what
makes all her milk turn TO golden butter
She puts in a white and gold daisy and
eats sweet flag and anise, so that at night
when she is driven home to the barnyaru
her breath is as fragrant as new mown
hay.
am sorry that the pretty milkmaid
whom Barney bothers, is almost extinc'
but if it is not her, as it sometimes still
is. it is somebody else with clean fingers
who does the milking and, as he whistles,
thinks Of her.
So you thought dairy butter was not
made of cream. Let us follow the milk
man, while Cherry lies down and in
'meditation, fancy free" chews her con.
templative cud. When you have seen
the milk carried to a little stone milk
| house, built on hillside, where the wa
ter from spring trickles in and around
the pans, and smelled the cool, sweet
cleanness of the place, you will be ready
to confess that dairy butter may be good
! Then when you have seen woman il
white cap and apron, with strong, grace
full arms, lift the dasher up and down il
an earthen churn, and seen her with a
ladle in her hand working the butter int
yellow roll, am sure you will be glad
to taste it. This is surely the poetry OF
butter making, and thought there coulo
be no other, until / realized that perfec
ton of mechanical detail and fitness fol
uses did make poetry also.
/ visited large dairy farm and was
taken through a great cool cellar, wher)
the milk of forty deer-like Jerseys wa
| cooling. 1t was in large watts with run
ming water all around it. Then tht
churning was done by a water motor
and the butter worked in large bowl
and after this saw it pressed into hal
pound packages just right for the table
Each package had a sheaf of whea
printed on it, was wrapped in sheet Q
parafiine paper, and laid by itself in al
ice-lined compartment 1 thought tn
people of Philadelphia, where this wa
to be shipped, were very fortunate.
have not described all the processo
very minutely, as 1 wanted to tell abou
the making of creamery butter, and tn
principle is the same in all butter max
ing.
To go back little, they carry the pail
of foaming milk-and this is no poet
fgure-to the great tin cans that stan'
in the corner of the grassy yard ant
strain it into them. The cans are wheele,
out to the roadside and set on a rud
platform there, and when the man VIII,
drives the milk wagon come along he set
them lightly in, along with many others
have found it in my heart to envy thi
man. He sees the world in all the fresh
ness of morning, when everything
waking up and is fresh and bright afte
its rest; again when the sun sets and tn
sglow still fingers, the big man drives hi
sturdy team slowly up the hills and at
round pace down the slopes, and carrie
his load to the creamery, 1t is u lon,
building a little at one side of the town
and looks like soldiers barracks Her
the milk of "Cherry, ""QGoen Bess'' an
"Polyanthus" is emptied together int
great vats and inextricably mixed L
quiet it stands, and chemically, and
therefore, imperceptibly, the yello'
cream particles are separated and rise t,
the surface. In the morning there is
thick mass of cream to be SKINNED OF
and churned The cream of the previou
milking is put with it, as they churn onl
once day.
All this cream is turned into a greo
square churn, hung cornerwise, the bel
which attaches it to the engine is slippe
on and it is turned over and over grea
many times. until the experienced ea
knows the right moment has come. The
it is stopped and the buttermilk is draw
off. They have n special bright tin Gu
which they reserve for visitors; this the
will I'll and give TO any one who stand
by. 1t is sweet and cool, and most de
licious draught.
After this a great many pailfuls O
water are poured in and the churn is Sc
slowly going again, then they draw OF
the water and take the butter out int
wooden bowls. From here it is CARRIE
and emptied on circular table, salt j
sprinkled on and the machine set going
il is deftly manipulated and an arm come
down aad flutes the surface all over
Then it is heaped up again; this is re
peated until the salt is thoroughly worke,
through. 1t is then put back in til
wooden bowls to wait until the mex
morning, when it is worked a little NOR
and pressed into all sizes and shapes O
wooden boxes, fastened up and put in
refrigerator car, where 1t reaches th
consumer in an incredibly short time.
This is all the process, essentially tn
same whether in the creamery, the larg
dairy or the little stone milk house. Al
the butter Is made of cream, please don
forget that.
'What shlN he eat but white bread an,
butterP' to quote Mother Goose. Nothing
better, is there? unleRs-methinks-th
used to spread brown sugar over that.
can taste It now and feel again the des
pair which filed my heart when dropped
IL butter side down in the garden. .-Milh
maid IN Detroit Free Press