The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-08-21
HOW TO MAKE BUTTER.
Description of the Method Used by DIR. w.
II. Hicklin.

II. Hicklin.
The Yorkville correspondent of The
News and Courier, some time ago,
paid visit to Mr.. W. 81. Hicklin's
dairy farm at Guthriesville. and wrote
ii 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-a machine used for
separating the cream from the milk
was putin 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. I will say, howev-
er, that the machine is marvel, and
is 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 Is 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 allow
ing 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 in this article
is to tell how Mr.. H.icklin 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 - 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 Sc to 4S hours after being
drawn from the COW. A swing churn
is used-one with no inside fixtures
and as winging mo:ion does the work.
The time occupied in churning is about
10 minutes, with the temperature OF
the cream about &C degrees. When
the butter comes tits in granules about
the size of a grain Of wheat. The but
terrnilk is drawn of and the butter is
washed in the chu.rn 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 Cou-
rier-but a 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 pack
ed for shipment in regular refrige-
rator.
1t will be observed that the story of
how Mr.. Hicklin, or rather Mrs. Hick-
lin, makes butter is very simple and l
can see no reason why any intelligent
housewife in the State might not otmake
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 condition be-
fore being churned; and the next I'M
portant step is to see that every drop
of the milk is washed out of the butter,
and next, that it is properly salted:
Mr.. Hicklin says that one ounce OF
salt to the pound of butter is the pro-
per amount where butter is intended
for market, but that he sometimes
puts only a half ounce, and occasion
ally as much as two ounces, at the re-
quest of customers.