THE BUTTER THAT IS WANTED.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1157, 4 May 1894, Page 7

THE BUTTER THAT IS WANTED.

There was recently a largely attended conference of dairymen in Ontario at which many interesting papers were read. Mr A. A. Ayer, of Montreal, gave an excellent practical talk on “The Butter Wanted and Proper Method of Securing the Same.” Dairymen, he said, must be more careful of what they feed their cows, than they were of what they fed themselves. A man might eat leeks or onions, but must not feed them to his cows if he wanted good butter. What Professor Shutt had said about the necessity of giving them only pure water was strongly emphasized. . Cleanliness in the milker, and all the surroundings of the cows were of the greatest importance, because it was easy to get a bad flavour into the milk, but impossible to Btrain it out again. The same care must be taken in keeping the milk. Why he favoured the separator system so strongly was that the separation of cream from the sweet milk could be completed at once, and it was easier to protect a small quantity of cream than a larger quantity of milk from taints. In the creamery the greatest cleanliness must be observed as well, and carelessness avoided. After separation he preferred hand working to machinery, in order to secure just the proper consistency and grain for packing. Next to milk, salt took flavours quicker than anything he knew of, and salt used in buttermaking must be carefully guarded against to taints of fish, tar paper, and so on. It was discovered at Chicago that a woody flavour was imparted by the boxes and in refrigerators. The former should be lined with parchment and care taken that the floor of the latter were not watersoaked and covered with sawdust. The need of tasteful and large packages was also dwelt upon. In conclusion Mr Ayer stated that there was no country receiving a better average price for its butter than Canada, and the price would only increase as the quality improved.