The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-08-14
How to Make Batter.

luC OThFllIe COllCopouoCuo Va LIZ
Ne,ys and Courier, some time ago,
paid visit to Mr.. W. H. Hicklin's
dairy farm at Guthriesville, and wrote
it up for his paper. The following
description of Mr.. Hicklin s method of
making butter will prove interesting:
Shortly after we arrived at the barn
the SEPARATOR machine used for sep
arating the cream from the milk-was
put in motion. I shall not attempt to
describe it, as detailed description
would occupy too much space, and
would be of little or no value to the
reader when done. will say, howev:
er, that the machine is marvel, and
is a combination of cranks, cog wheels,
cylinders, spouts, etc. 1t does exactly
what it was made for, and will take
every particle of the cream out of 300
pounds of milk in one hour. On that
day the product Of the cows-one
milking-was about 1e gallons, and
the cream was extracted within 80
minutes. I asked Mr.. Hicklin to tell
me what the relative value of the two
systems of extracting cream by this
new method and by the old of allowing
it to rise and skimming it off was, and
in reply, he said that on receiving the
machine, he had made test and found
that during the first seven days it was
used, there was an increase Of %
pounds in yield of butter over the
seven days previous, from the same
number Of COWS with same feed and
treatment. He also said that the sep
arator had now been in use for about
two months, and had paid for itself
and yielded net profit Of about $50,
as compared with the old method.
As my special mission III this article
is to tell how Mr.. Hicklin handles his
milk and butter We will follow the
cream after it has been separated. 1t
is placed in tin cans and set in cold
water, where it remains for IL hours,
after which it is mixed with previous
milking and set to ripen.
During the ripening process it is
stirred two or three times daily, and
is churned 36 to 48 hours after being
drawn from the cow. A swing churn
is used-one with no inside fixtures
and a swinging motion does the work.
The time occupied in churning is about
40 minutes, with the temperature of
the cream about &C degrees. When
the butter comes it is in granules about
the size of a grain Of wheat. The
buttermilk is drawn off and the butter
is washed in the churn with pure cold
water, and this process is continued
until the water runs off clear, and then
one ounce Of salt is added for each
pound of butter. The butter is now
ready for the printer-not the kind
that manufacture the News and Courier
but powerful little machine that is
used to press all the water out of the
butter and to compress it into cakes of
one pound each. The cakes Of butter
when taken from the printer are about
in the shape of brick, are free from
any foreign substance, such as milk or
water. They are then wrapped in
parchment paper and packed for ship
mcnt in a regular refrigerator.
1t will be observed that the story OF
how Mr.. Hicklin, or rather Mrs. Hick-
lin, makes butter is very simple and |
can see no reason why any intelligent
housewife in the State might not make
exactly the same quality Of butter as
that made at this dairy farm. Of
course it is absolutely necessary, if
the best results are secured, that the
cream be in exactly the proper condi-
ton before being churned and the
next important step is to see that every
drop of the milk is washed out Of the
butter, and next that it is properly
saltcd. Nh. Hicklin says that one
ounce Of salt to the pound of butter
is the proper amount where butter is
intended for market, but chat he
sometimes puts only half ounce, and
occasionally as much as two ounces,
at the request of customers.