The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-03-28
THE Farm.
A TALK ABOUT BUTTER.
A MiLKMAlD TELLS OF THE PRO-
CESSES OF ITS MAKING.

Large Dairy Farm-How the Milk is
Gathered of CHERRY"
"Oueen Bcss," and Other Old Favorites.
"Why don't you buy creamery butter?
Railways do, think it is better; why, it
IS made of cream, you know" said a
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 l knew
better than she did, having seen those
mysterious processes called butter MAX
ing. Wondering if there were others
.:;'ho knew no more about that rather
1,.s..@sSary article resolved that would
enlighten 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 greedily,
bites off the glowing heads. Nobody
knows how many ''four leaf clovers' she
has swallowed; perhaps, that is what
makes all her milk turn to golden butter.
She puts in white and gold daisy and
eats sweet flag and anise, SO that at night
when she is driven home to the barnyard
her breath is as fragrant as new mown
hay.
ann sorry that the pretty milkmaid,
whom Barney bothers, is almost extinct;
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 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 a woman in
white cap and apron, with strong, grace
full arms, lift the dasher up and down in
an earthen churn, and seen her with q
ladle in her hand working the butter into
yellow roll, l am sure you will be glad
to taste it, This is surely the poetry of
butter making, and thought there could
be no other, until l realized that perfec-
ton of mechanical detail and fitness for
uses did make poetry also.
I visited a large dairy farm and was
taken through great cool cellar, where
the milk of forty deer-like Jerseys was
cooling. 1t was in large watts with run
ming water all around it, Then the
churning was done by water motor,
and the butter worked in large bowl,
and after this saw it pressed into half
pound packages just right for the table.
Each package had a sheaf of wheat
printed on it, was wrapped in o sheet Of
paraffine paper, and laid by itself in an
declined compartment. l thought the
people of Philadelphia, where this was
to be shipped, were very fortunate.
I l have not described all the processes
very infinitely, as | wanted to tell about
the making of creamery butter, and the
principle is the same in all butter max
ing.
To go back little, they carry the pals
of foaming milk-and this is no poets
,tigure-to the great tin cans that stand
in the corner of the grassy yard and
strain it into them. The cans are wheeled
out to the roadside and set ON a rude
platform there, and when the man who
drives the milk wagon come along he sets
them lightly in, along with many others.
I have found it in my heart to envy this
man. He sees the world in all the fresh
ness of morning, when everything is
waking up and is fresh and bright after
its rest; again when the sun sets and the
glow still fingers, the big man drives his
sturdy team slowly up the hills and at a
round pace down the slopes, and carries
his load to the creamery. 1t is long
building, little at one side of the town,
and looks like soldiers barracks. Here
the milk of Cherry" "Queen Bess" and
,"Polyanthus" is emptied together into
great watts and inextricably mixed. In
quiet it stands, and chemically, and,
therefore, imperceptibly, the yellow
cream particles are separated and rise to
the surface. In the morning there is a
thick mass of cream to be skinned off
and churned. The cream of the previous
milking is put with it, as they churn only
once a day.
All this cream is turned into great
square churn, hung cornerwise, the belt
which attaches it to the engine is slipped
ON and it is turned over and over great
many times. until the experienced ear
knows the right moment has come. Then
it is stopped and the buttermilk is drawn
off. They have special bright tin cur
which they reserve for visitors; this they
will fill and give to any one who stands
by. 1t is sweet and cool, and a most de-
icious draught.
After this great many pailfuls OF
water are poured in and the churn is set
slowly going again, then they draw off
the water and take the butter out into
wooden bowls. From here it is carried
and emptied on a circular table, salt is
sprinkled on and the machine set going.
1t is deftly manipulated and an arm comes
down and flutes the surface all over.
Then it is heaped up again; this is re-
peated until the salt is thoroughly worked
through. 1t is then put back in the
wooden bowls to wait until the next
morning, when it is worked little more
and pressed into all sizes and shapes of
wooden boxes, fastened up and put in a
refrigerator car, where it reaches the
consumer in an incredibly short time.
This is all the process, essentially the
same whether in the creamery, the large
dairy or the little stone milk house. All
the butter is made of cream, please don't
forget that.