ARTIFICIAL BUTTER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1684, 10 January 1888, Page 2

ARTIFICIAL BUTTER.

On the agitation of German farmers, a bill is to be introduced into the Reichstag having for its object the imposition of an excise duty on artificial, butter, because the consumption of this commodity, which is about one half the price of real butter, is steadily increasing, and threatens to become a serious rival of the natural product, and thus injure the farmers. At the present moment, fifteen thousand tons of artificial butter are manufactured yearly in Germany, and the whole pf this is consumed at home. One of the largest factories is that of Messrs Burman and Co., of Berlin, where artificial butter is made according to the process of Mege and Mauries. The best fat is freed from the indigestible stearine, then mixed with about twenty-five per cent of milk, a small quantity of best olive oil and a small quantify of real butter. The materials are heated and kneaded by steam power, then soldifiled by means of a jet of water, which is cooled by an ice machine, then pressed to remove the milk and water, and finally salted and packed ready for the market. Chemical analysis shows that artificial butter is almost identical with the natural product. It contains ninety per cent of fat, seven per cent of water, three per cent of salt, and caseine,—Farming World (Scotland.