SUMMER BUTTER. A Hint to the New Zealand Farmer.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1330, 8 January 1881, Page 3

SUMMER BUTTER. A Hint to the New Zealand Farmer.

Many good judges have become convinced that tho highest quality of buttar, and that which, keeps the best, is made from eremn i taken from sweet milk and churned while itself sweet. Tho Danish butter, which { is the most famous in the world for its keeping qualities, is made from milk &ct doep and cold. .Skimmed at 12 hours, and the cream churned at once, or within half a rlay. By this method moie milk is icquired to make a pound of butter — often as much as 30 pounds,— but tho higher prices obtained for it more than make np for any loss m quality. Danish butter thus made is quoted in the London market at 13 to 20 per cent. moio than the best Dutch, French, and Jersey butter,all made fiorn a slightly acid cream ; and extra fine Amoi lean creamery is still lower. In making butter fiom sweet cream the surroundings must be perfect, for it is morß sensitive to odours than butter fiom sour cream. Tins fact is itself evidence of the moie delicate quality of sweet cream butter. Those who believe in some acidity, either to add to the quantity or quality of the butter, should bo careful to slum just as soon as tho milk turns, and befoie it becomes at all thick. Then, if the creim is kept to "upon," more or le^s A\hey will be sure to foim at the bottom of the jar, and this never ought to go into the chum. It will pay to have a cream can or j.ir fitted A\ r ith a faucet at the bottom to drnw off this bitter whey. It is not the buti cr itself, but the ciud, the milk sugiM", and the watei so apt to bo left in it, which cause the fhsfc change and spoils all. These substances, belonging to milk but not to butter, must be got out as completely as possible in the making. The easiest and best way to do this is by tholoughly washing in the churn with cold water or brine before the butter h gatheied, while it still is in the foim of little pellets. This is the "granular method" about which much has lately been written, and which Ins proved \ery satisfactory to those who have adopted it. There is a new way of putting up butter to keep, not largely practised as yet, but very highly commended by those who have tried it, and, caretully done, it is no doubt the best way of all The butter .should be made by the granular method, -well -washed m v. Ater and at least once ia brine, and diained off or diied in a cloth. It is then in firm, diy grains <ibout the si/c of BB shot, adheringbut little to one another, and in this form unsalted, it is pi esorved until wanted for u->e or to put up for market. Select any suitable vessel m which to keep the buttei ; it may be of wood, stoneware, or glass, and of any shape, so it has an opening Urge enough to admit the hand. In this vessel put enough pure cold brine to float a few pounds of the grains. The butter may bo put in immediately after the draining, which follows the washing in brine as above, being within the hour of churning. Make the butter grains lie pretty close without, however, becoming compact, ao the brine may penetrate in all directions, and gradually add brine and butter until the vessel is filled. If not done at one time care should be taken to leave the last butter put in covered with brine, holding it down if necessary with an oak board, a jar-cover, or a large plate, and when the package is full there must be no butter floating exposed to the air. In. a stone jar this is easily prevented. Perhaps the best wooden package is an oaken cas k with a large bung. Close the latter tightly after the cask has been filled, turn the cask on end, tap the head, force in the brine until it is perfectly full, and then bung up the hole. For putting up small quantities of butter by this method for family use, glass, fruit, or preserve jars are very convenient. Butter packed in this way (if it can be called packing) may be taken from tbe brine at any time and worked into any form desired as if it had just been made, and will usually need no additional salt. By washing in water it can be inado as fresh as when taken from the churn. Neither flavouring nor colour is lost by the process although November butter thus treated may not have in April the " rosiness" of the newly-churned. The Intter characteristic of very fre3h butter may be obtained by mixing with the summer butter taken from the brine an equal quantity of winter butter just made. If both lots are in-the granular form, never gathered, they may be worked together at a low temperature and -will perfectly blend; the resulting mixture has the November colour, the freshness of the 1 chum, and a perfect; grain, beat some months later. A few matters of detail should not be omitted. Before .putting butter into any wooden package, wipe the latter clean without wotting it jthen, either fill with hot brine or submerge the iwfyolein the ■ brin,e, holding it under m, some,, vray,< and ;le. tr it .soak 24 hours. Meanwhile th§,brine ;will cool and the package bgjcjeadyifo.t use when taken out. Alt, l^^fed. about butter or butter pack»gmpfiffiuE|-;)?P made j oj&tbej purest 'salt, as. ecpong as possible,

boiled, skimmed and thoroughly strained. For packed butter in any form the most important point as to the storeroom where lcept, is an even temperature sufficiently lo w — it may be 40, 50, or 60 degrees, but it should not vary between or exceed these extremes. The air of the apartment must be pure, not mouldy, nor yet to dry. The danger with cellars is in having the air to dense, and often close or loaded with vegetable odours. A room cooled to the proper point with ico or water, where the air is always fresh, is far safer.

The Citizen states that the monument of John Milton in Cripple^ate Church, which, since its erection in 1832, has stood in an obscure comer, has, during the lecent restoration of the edifice, been placed in a ronspicuous position near the bouth-west door. The Duke of Westminster recently announced to the citizens of Chester that he will give £10,000 towards tho abolition of Jhe Dee-budge tolls. Thsse tolls are a great burden on the country people who have to cross the bridge before they can do business in the city. Lord Beaconsfield's agents at High Wy combe have, by his lordship's instrucj tions, ielunied.2o per cent, of the halfyeai's rent just paid to all his tenants on the Hughenden Manor Estate. I The intended International Exhibition of New York has received the sanction of the Congiess of the United States. It will be held in 1883, and is expected to be bigger than any show of the kind yet aeen. The Bishop of Durham's revenue is £8000 per annum. The diocese has a population of over ;i million. The manager of the Evenement Parifaien has ju&t been condemned to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 500f for the publication of a giossly immoial article. A number of visitoi-3 who in September last imprudently appioaohcd the crater of Mount Vesuvius too closely were struk by a shower of fiery projectiles, and wore much injured. They were c.uried to the hospital by the quide 1 -. Ix 1851 the receipts of tho London Corporation were £207,400 10s 10} d, and tho expenditure amounted to £247,931 Us 2j j in 1879 the icoeipts were £553,337 10s 8} ; and the expenditure £332,3-53 9s 3]d. The emigration returns show that nearly 16,000 persons left the Mersey during the month of August, This was an increase oi upwards of 2000 over tho same month of last year. The master cabinetmakers of Paris have j locked out their workmen in consequence of combination among the latter to proscribe the establishments of certain of the employers. Dr Earing, who recently retired from the bishopric of Durham,confhmed 74,704 persona. On. lii^ retiring fiom the See an address was presented to him, signed by 031 of his clergy. Cardin il Maiming has become a subscriber to tho movement for establishing coffee taverns at Woolwich and other gdirisons for the tioops and their friends, and has cxpiessed his warm sympathy with the scheme.