THE ART OF BUTTER-MAKING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 4

THE ART OF BUTTER-M AKING.

In a recently-issued volume of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society's Journal, Professor F. J. Lloyd, F.1.C., F.C. ;S., consulting chemist of the British Dairy Far-

mers' Association, and of the Bath, and West of England Society, has a very suggestive and instructive article on ''The Art of Butter-making." From the standpoint of the scientist, Professor Lloyd's proficiencj" is sufficiently attested by his offioial connection "with the above-named association, while his exceptionally successful supervision of the operations at the dairy schools under the auspices of the Bath and West of England Society has furnished ample proof of his exact knowledge of all the practical details incident to dairying pursuits. Accordingly, lie lias come to be recognised in Great Britain as easily the first writer in the country on matters pertaining to the manufacture of high-class butter and cheese.

In the article now sketched, Professor lioyd di&cusses the theme from the standpoint of the butter-making competitions, now so popular at the leading agricultural shows in the United Kingdom. In his outspoken deliverance he points out the -why and wjierefore the competitions are not &o educational as they are generally supposed to be. Fortunately, the exposure of the imperfections of these methods of instruction involves explanations of the correct principles and conditions contributory to the- production of the - highest quality ef butter, and as will be peen these explanations the professor supplies. He insists that the great drawback to all these competitions is that the ripening and the ripeness - r the cream, in -which the whole of the butter-making, and the chief value of the butter itself depends, is not controlled by the competitors. The cream is given to them sometimes unripe, sometimes too ripe, and very seldom, in the professor's experiences of such events, either properly ripened or possessing a flavour which is capable of producing first quality butter. "So frequently indeed,"' he says, "h.-s the cream an unpleasant flavour that I have come to distinguish the butter possessing such flavour as ' dairy school butter.' It is the most seiious blot on our dairy school system. We must overcome it, or we shall never make any real progress. The mo:*t essential quality of butter — viz.. flavour, depends on the ripening of the cream. A striking illustration of this fact it was my good fortune to obtain recently. I w?s visiting a dairy school, and was asked to taste five samples of butter, and express my opinion on the flavour. I did so, -writing down my opinion on each sample as tasted before those present. "When I had finished the five, T was informed the history of each. The le&ults are interesting, and teach some impoitant lesions. All were made from portions of the same milk.

Nn. Opinion. Made with 1. Very good flavour ... Shallow pan cieam 2. Wants flavour ... Freshly se-aratelcrerm 3. Not fit forconsninp- S lf-iipened .separated tion cream, over-ripo 4. £]ifhtly rancid ... Ripened with a pure culture 5. Very unpleasant ... Ripened with a different pure cult'ue. The results confirmed the opinion longheld by Professor Lloyd that, among dairy jjeoplo" geuerallj, there is & lack, of know-

ledge of how to ripen cream, and that this is especially true ot sepaiated cieam. "What then," he asks, "is the iise of teaching young women how to manipulate cream, and convert it into butter, if we do not first teach them how to obtain and ripen that cream, so that the butter may be worth eating?" But, as he further points out, it is not merely the flavour of the butter which depends upon the ripeness of the cream, even the operation of churning is influenced by it, for sweet cream will take very much, longer to churn than fullyripened cream ; and as time is an important; iac,toi — not only in competitions, but the dairy routine of farm lite — the rapid conversion of ripe cream into butter is an, important consideration. It must be explained, however, that sweet cream may properly be subjected to more violent agitation in the churn thsn ripe cream. But; so little is this realised, 'that Professor Lloyd has often found competitors who have never tasted or tested the cream, and others who, if they have done so, cannot) say whether it is properly ripe, over-ripe, or not ripe enough, and churn at a fixed rate, irrespective of its condition.

Churning, he say&, requires no great skill, but when the cream breaks, some knowledge seldom po*-se«sed is required. "Ask the majority of_ butter-makers why they, now add water to the -cream, -and they will at once answer you— to cool it! Bus ask them how much they should use, and what temperature it should be, and they will look at you with, puzzled ' dstonidiment."' Then comes' the problem. "What should be tho'size of the grains? A teacher ;-i; -i ;\ rUirv school once openly confessed to Professor Lloyd, "I cannot imderstand you — - soinutiiJiL's you like the-, grains small, sometimes large.'' 'Quite so, 1 ' was the reply, "the size of the grains must depend upon the condition;- -under which the butter is being made, aud the tystem of treating, the butter afterward-'. In cold weather, it jt-diters little Low Mn ill the grains are, if f-.umcient time bo given to work out the mokture subsequently, but when time is an object, and rhe temperature is high, then smjll grains are ruinous. You must either overwork the buiter or leave too much moistum in."' The sizs of the graius also-d.-pends upon the of washing them, in the churn, a process far less understood than one wuiYl think. To get the buttermilk away irom thy grains is undoubtedly the lirst object of washing, but it is notthe F'-.le object. During this process, the; grain- 1 ought, ns a rule, to bo collected cogellier «•> that they increase in size with cicli v ;»sjliing, and therefore they ought to be hardened gradually. By this means you retain the flavour and colour of the buttor, pnd you have it, when placed on the-butter-worker, hi a condition which, with skill, will enable you to get out all the> moisture neeesb-uy with the least amount of work ;iud in the shortest time. Professor Lloyd i& ,so insistent on the harm done to butter by the miMise of the butter-worker tint we deem it advisable to quote his observations in full. He says : — ''Honestly, I do not believe one butter-worker in ten can use the worker properly. I will even go further; in my opinion the hand butterworkers have done more to spoil the butter than they have ever done lo improve it. To see Ihe way in which the butter grains are ground into a lump, or a block of butter six inches thick, U -crunched between a roller and bed not one inch apart, makes one smile &adly. Why do we not introduce the small mechanical butter-workers, which can be found in every Continental buttor-m-iking country? I can only suppose it is because it would not be found profitable to the makers of the present washing machines. Even these, with all their faults, might be used reasonably, for after all it is not so much the inherent fault of the butter-worker as it is tho ignorance of those who use it that most strike one. One illustration of this may be noticed. A good butter- worker is so made that the top will lift off the stand, and if replaced on it, but not on the sloping pieces attached to the bed, it will be perfectly level. The end can then be removed, and the bed of the worker used for making up the butter. . So little is this known that I have rarely seen, the worker so used, but dozens and dczons of competitors at shows trying to perform, -the almost hopeless task of making _up square-ended, square-sided bricks on the sloping surface. Not only should it be used flat for making up, but if prepared before churning, and left damp while churning, it should be flat during this period, and only put on the slope immediately bsfore it is required for use."

As regards judges and judging at exhibition competitions, the professor expresses the opinion that, unfortunately, the system of judging by points is likely to get into di;-repute. owing to the folly of judges who pretend that their skill is so great as to enable them to judge half or quarter points'. On this head, he writes : — "They surely do not realise the preposterous nature of their conceit. Assume, for example, that there are 15 competitors, and that 15 points are allowed for the appearance of the butter. The worst made-up butter would probably be worth 8 points, roughly one-half of the* iotal; this leaves no less than seven degrees of quality, among which the remaining 14 competitors may be classed. It would 1 be a difficult task to divide them into seven classes, but the judge who splits his points assumes that he could divide them into 14 or 28, which is simply absurd. Still more ludicrous is the division of points for moisture in butter. Butter with 12 per cent, moisture is very dry, butter with 22 per cent, is visibly wet. The 10 points allowed for moisture permit a judge to estimate each per cent, of moisture. K"o man can do it, yet by splitting the points the judge assumes that lie can judge to half a per cent."