HISTORY OF BUTTER.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 15313, 14 August 1923, Page 2

HISTORY OF BUTTER.

AN INTERESTING REVIEW.

(By R. Bretherton, N.D.D.)

Butter flales back to times immemorial, anrl reference fo its uses as a food, medicine, and cosmetic purposes may be found chronicled long before the Christian era. Quotations are found as far hack ns 2,000 8.C., end reference has been left by the Indians of Asia, the Hebrews, the Arabs, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and 'the Teutons.

In the Scriptures it is first, mentioned in the Book of Genesis, 18, 8, where Abraham took butter, and of the making by Solomon in Proverbs 30, 33, “Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter.” In the history of Ancient Greece we find that the Greeks knew how to make butter from milk. Herodotus and Hippocrates state that the Thracians made butter from cows’ milk. With the Romans, cheese appears to bo more popular than butter; however, Plinius refers in several instances to butyrum (butter) being taken with broad. Tile earliest recorded method of churning was by shaking milk in bladders until butter granules formed. Later earthenware vessels were used, the milk being agitated by the hands. The Romans churned milk by the use of sticks, which closely resembled the agitators of the old-fashioned vertical churns. In early times butter was employed in many ways. The Hindoos used it for the greatest and holiest sacrifices hi their worship. The Greeks and Romans did not use butter as a food, but as a remedy for injuries to the skin. The so-ot of burnt butter was regarded as a specific remedy for sore eyes. In the time of Alexander 1., certain Macedonians annointed themselves with the fat of milk. It is recorded it was used to heal the wounds of animals, and not long ago it was used in large quantities in Scotland and North England for smearing sheep, and as lamp oil. Besides being applied externally, it was used internally for various troubles. In Spain as late as the seventeenth century it was sold in shops for external use only. Butter was little used as a food in the early history, and those Who did use, it never ate It fresh. The earliest record of butter as an article of commerce states that it was shipped from India to ports in the Red Sea in 'the first century. During the twelfth century butter was an article of oversea commerce. The Germans sent ships to Bergen, in Norway, and exchanged their cargoes of wine for butter and drifcd fish. In 118 b the Scandinavian King compelled the Germans to withdraw their trade, as the practice was injurious .to his people. Towards the end of the thirteenth century Norway exported butler to Belgium, and Sweden likewise the following century. It may be fairly inferred that butter-making in Europe Was introduced from Scandinavia. During the eighteenth century the Irish buried their butter to hide it from invaders and to develop cheese flavours. Prior to the nineteenth century very little advance had been made in the methods of butter-making; however, during the early part of the last century creaming and butter-making equipment appeared on the markets, and the barrcl-chum made Us entrance into the field of butter-making. During the middle of the nineteenth century c#-operative methods were started in America, and we hear of the “pooling” system of butter-making. Farmers took their milk to small creameries, where it was set In deepsetting pans in cold water and the following day was skimmed by the operator and made into butter. The returns from the butter, after deducting cost of making, shipping and selling, were divided among the farmers, on the basis of the pounds of milk supplied. In the early nineties of the nineteenth century the development of the centrifugal separator had reached a stage where it became adapted to practical use on the farm. This gradually revolutionised the butter-making industry. Aside from this invention, the perfection of methods for rapid and accurate determination of butterfat in milk and cream played a most important role in the development of the industry' within the last 25 years. In New Zealand, Australia and America we find the Babcock method in use, while in Europe the Gerber tes.t has found wide application.

In the beginning -of the present century pasteurisation of milk and cream was first advocated, and we here find the combined .churn and worker coming into use% The invention of artificial refrigeration and improvement of refrigerator service on transportation lines furnished further important facilities that helped to make possible the rapid growth of the butter industry.