The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-09-04
BUTTER in PRINTS AND PACKAGE%
Arguments in Favor Of and Against tisss
Popular print" Form.

In the best retail butter markets, sass
Henry E. Alvord in American Cultivatcx,
there is very general preference for tia
print" form. Purchasers want theiY
butter attractive in appearance, and -
they select the small rolls, pats or blocks,
round, square or brick shaped, generait5
bearing some design or trade mark,
stamped or pressed upon the butter,
which gives to this class of the article ths
name Of prints" This preference b
simply one Of the many pieces of evidence,
afforded by retail markets, of the close re-
lation of the eye and appetite, and the i'm
portance of 1.-The looks of the thing" In
selling any food product
There is another side, however, to the
print butter subject which .is not often
considered. Those persons most particu-
lar about their butter regard its most i'm
portant qualities to be sweetness, freshness
and high flavor We all know butter to be
an extremely perishable produce, injured,
even when carefully made, by exposure to
air and the contaminetions which are con-
veyed in the air. This is the reason so
much attention has been given to butter
packages of all kinds. The more butter
Is exposed to the air, the greater are the
chances of it's injury. The print form,
especially if the prints are small, offers
the greatest surface exposure. The
print is the very worst form in which
butter can be put for preserving it's delir
cate favors. Small rolls stand best in
this respect. In both cases the danger OF
injury is lessened by wrapping in nap
kin, or cloth saturated with brine. The
waxed, or parchment paper which has
come into use within few years, also
furnishes good protection. If butter Is
to be printed at all. every print or lump
should be carefully and closely wrapped
in the waterproof paper, to make pack
age as nearly air tight as possible, before
leaving the dairy room where it is made.
Thus protected, if well cooled and firm,
the closer the prints are packed and kept,
till sold or used, the better. TO facilitate
close packing the square and brick forms
are preferable to the roll and round print
or "pat."
But there is another objection to print
ing butter. The best judges of butter and
most successful makers, at the present
day, advise handling it, with or without
tools, as little as possible. Working" is
almost omitted in some of the most par
ticular dairies, and much butter from
large creameries having the highest repu-
tation is actually not worked at all. In
making print butter, however, a good deal
of manipulation is necessary. Very gen.
orally the whole process of putting into
print form is just so much extra handling
after the butter is at its best. This need.
less handling or working Injuries the grain
of the butter. Overworking is the most
common fault in butter.
If butter is packed into tub, jar or
other package, as directly from the churn
as possible, these serious objections to
print butter are avoided. The wonder is
that small consumers do not learn the ad-
vantage Of small packages, in which but
ter is packed in bulk. In some markets
five pound boxes and little pals holding
six, eight and ten pounds, have become
quite popular. But, while cheap and con.
venient, wood is by no means the best
material in which to pack butter. Glass
is the best, or porcelain, and stoneware
next. For local trade there is nothing
better than well glazed stone jars. The
butter is thus protected from the air, and
it's grain and favors well preserved.
Moreover the maker is saved the labor
and actual expense Of putting the butter
into print form, and this is quite an item.