Butter

Wc extract the following from an able nod estended article on the " Preaervation oí Food," in the late Report of the Department of Agricultura. It is hj Prof. L. C. Loomis, M. D. There is not withiu the wholc rango oí' ngriculture so largo a product lfable to so large a per cent. ot' depreciation as butter. The amonnt of the butter erop of the Uuited States is estimatod at $65,000.000. Of this it may be said one-half might be so)á for three conts more per pound. At the present time scaruely one firkin in four opena periectly swect. This deterioration arises not from any real chemical or practical difficulty, butsolely from want of knowledge or want oi care iu ita manufacture. Butter is mostly an oil so well fixed tlint it is quite unsnsceptible of chemical change. Cream is a peculiar mixture of thia oil and certain vvatery fluids found in the milk. Chtiruing ooneiitfi in 60 agilating the cream as to causo the butter globules to adhere to each other. Now, aa the principal part ol the butter is not exposed to decay, it becomes a íair sub ject of inquiry, vvhat is the cause ol' so largo a per oent. ol butter losing its sweetnees so soon. 1. Milk being of itself one of the most perishable of animal producís, its decomposition may have gone so far beforo the removal of the crenm as to o.intaminate the fluid of the cream ; ard it so, then the butter, when ürst made, has already within it putrescent material wfaich will soon infect tbe wholo. '2. Even if the crenm were entirely weet, the milk remaining in the but ter will soon decay, and if not removüd will, of oourse, deteriórate the butter. The praotioal questions, then, are svhen to lemove the cream and how to free the butter from the butter-milk. As to the örst, it is desirable to allow the milk to stand as long as posible, in order to secure all the cream ; but in doing thia, there is risk of spoiling the whole. The real decay of the j milk is indicated, not by its thiukening as it 8ours, but by the watery efTusinn foliowing the thickening. The ertam may remain till this Ih'ckening process is complete, without exposure to the butter, but no longcr. The cream should not, for the same reason, be : kept too long after being removed beiore churning. The procese of cburning aDd dress ! ing or working the butter are as vari ous and valuable as there are ' tual and careful housewives ; but in every successful method there must be ono essential - the thorougli removal of the butter-milk. To aceompliish this, ome reeommend two or three washings of the butter in co'd water t il 1 the water brings away the butter-milk, vvhilst ethers rely upon thorough workings. - But whatever method ia nsed, the removal of the butter-milk is a sine qua non. As the milk is warmedin the process of churning, the first requisite of the buttor on being reiBoved is to bo coo!ed A small amount of salt may be worked in with as liltle stirring as posBible, and then it should be placed where it will cool rapidly. After a iew hours iï is worked, adding as much eait as may be needed to prepare it for market. Care should be taken that the salt be pure and good. A littlo , more than an ounce per pound is suffieient. Five or six hours after, the butter is to be worked agair, ; the manner of working being to press with a ladle op butter.sc-oop, not to cut it through oor spat it, the most comtnon. method and the pooreat of all. For keuping for family use, stone jara are nnquestionably the best. For packing for market, a new tub should never be used till it has been thorough]y saturated with strong brine. Cover the bottom of the tub with a thin epritikling of salt, and eolid ; and, placing a cloth over the top, sprinkle on a tbick layer of salt, pouring on a gilí oí water to forra an air-tight covering of bi ne. When it a to be sent iorward to market, the brine should be poured off and a new coating of sak laid on. Shc gÍílÚ0Ml JJttiSu