MAKING PRIZE BUTTER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 55

MAKING PRIZE BUTTER

At one ox the leading- shows in Canada a new idea was introduced- in connection with the prize takers for the best exhibits of butter. It was made a ©ondition that each prize taker should furnish a report- upon how the butter was made. A factory manager says : —“I skiin a very heavy cream and use a pasteurised skim milk starter. - In making the butter winch gained the prize, I solicited two cans of morning’s milk from my best Supplier, and put it in the cream, making the product 30 per cent, cream. This was ripened, cooled down to 52 Fahr., heiu at that temperature for four hours, and churned. 1 worked it- a little too much, as it was 14 points off on gram. The milk averaged about 3.80.”

Another prizp, -taker reports:,— “Our cows .are all dual-purpose animals, and ' . we have 13Q suppliers, and our milk reaches an, average test of 3.901. WU do not have trouble.with tainted milk; the suppliers are instructed to empty the cans as soon as they get home from the creamery; and rinse?in cold water, then "scald and 1 rinse again. They are in- . structed never to mix night’s and morning’s milk. If they do get a* can tainted once in a while. we refuse it kindly, and never have to do it more than once with the same sunn lier. They all think a lot. of their creamery, and to lose a can of milk is regardeef as a serious matter. We do not pasteurise; but use a starter ■ made out of pew milk every day in the year. The cows are mainly fed on natural pasture.”’ . .. . :

'The next report, stales 1 that- “Most of bur milk is from Shorthorns, averaging about 3.8; . Wb aim to reject all tainted milk. : As a general rule) we use a starter, but this butter was. made without a starter, as there was'acidity enough in the ihilk on the day it was made) the weather being very warm. This cream tested ; 44 per cent, butter fat with the Babcock test. T then used the acid test-, ■which showed 35 per cent, acidity. The cream was immediately eooled to 48 deg., and allowed to stand over night, being ' often stirred. ' It was churned while, at this temperature. The butter was not wasned before being taken from the churn, but was • immediately placed in boxes. One ounce of salt was used to the. pound. The butter was worked one minute and then allowed to stand for one hour, then worked two minutes, and allowed to stand • for two • hours, then worked one minute and packed in the boxes.” ” \ The butter made by another factory 'manager,: which, 1 in addition to a first prize, was specially commended by the judges, tvas • thus reported on. f ‘We have trolnble with tainted milk, and overcome it by rejecting it if admonitions to do better nave not the desired effect. I do not pasteurise milk or cream, but use a starter made of whole milk ripened by the use of a good commercial culture. A few days before makingthebutter exhibited at the show, I sent out a. circular letter to all the suppliers/ giving suggestions for the care of milk to be brought pn a.certain day, They responded quite generally, and ,t3b.e; ,inilk, I personally received of very good dual-

3001 b. We operate a separating station in connection with our factory, and I could not personally examine ~ all the milk,, but instructed the man in charge to do the best he could. ■ Having previously prepared a starter, I sent half of it to the creamery, instructing the operator to put a certain quantity in each can as soon as he had filled it and cooled it to 68 deg. At the factory I put my starter in the vat and ran the cream from the separator very heavy into the vat. I selected three cans of the finest morning’s milk, and mixed it with the cream to thin it somewhat, and then ripened the cream until it developed 0.6 per cent, of acid, according to Farrington’s test. Then I cooled it to 48 deg. In the morning it stood at 49 deg. After churning I washed with pure well water at 50 deg.,, salted 71b of salt to 1001 b of butter, worked five minutes, and packed in boxes soaked for five hours with cold water, rubbing a handffnl of salt on the inside of the box before packing.” Leptospermum Chapmanii, the new Crimson-flowered Manuka, is advertised in this paper by Nimmo and Blair, Dunedin, This is a rare and beautiful novelty. x _ The United States maintains the j*osition it attained last year of having, according to Stock Exchange valuation, the best national credit. In March, v.1898).-’iwhext British, consols were at their highest point , they returned under 2 per cent., but- they now yield about H2 14s per cent. On the other hand, United States Fours, which in 1898 returned over 24 per cent., now yield about t#o guineas per cent-, France stillranks third, her 3. per cent. Rentes'returning slightly under 3 per cent., having improved! her position during the past year. Holland’s Twd-and-a-Half per cent, stock r; turns 3£ per cent, against 3per cent, last year, and is followed by Sweden’s Threes and Germany’s Imperial loan, both of which give "to the investor, : at present price, a shade under 34 per cent. Rape, Mustard, Thousand-headed Cabbage and other agricultural seeds of best quality from Nimmo and Blair, Dunedin.-