Butter

BUTTER. Butter is the solidified oil or fatty matter of the milk of animals. In the United States the milk of the cow only is used for butter, except by that unscrupulous class who counter feit butter with animal fats. The comparative value of the milk of different individuals and breeds is estimated by the quantity of cream and its yield of butter; the pasture and food given exercising a most important part in the produc tion of butter. In milk, the union of the prin cipal constituent parts—curd and butter—with the water, is mechanical, and so as to be sepa rable. Indeed these will settle by mere subsidence, the butter rising to the top and the curd settling to the bottom. After the separation of the whey, which, to be brought about in the best manner requires chemical change, the residue is curd. In the manufacture of butter the strictest nicety is required in all the manipulations, from the time it is drawn from the cow until it is packed. Mod ern improvement, and the establishment of but ter factories, has brought the manufacture.of but ter almost to scientific accuracy; in the avoidance of odors, and the necessity of strict cleanliness in all the processes, from milking to packingin the setting of milk, the care of the cream and the churning; economy of space has also been so im proved, that the milk of ten to twenty cows may now be cared for in a space not larger than a good sized ice-chest. The component parts of butter, according to chemical analysis of Jersey butter and of factory butter (two samples, the cows of various breeds) and of whey butter, is as follows: Another sample of factory butter gave water, 8.82; ash, 3.43, and fat and caseine 87.75. A sample of whey butter gave water, 9.77; ash, 1.67, and fat and caseine, 88.56. In relation to the theory that the butter of milk is contained as globules surrounded by a membrane, is denied by some eminent chemists. The conclusions of Soxhlet and Tisserand, in relation to the manufac ture of butter, are as follows The former, It a discussion upon the condition of fat in milk,.op poses the generally accepted theory that it exists in globules surrounded by a membrane which it is necessary to break up in the process of churn ing, or by chemical means, for the production of butter, and believes that it exists in much' the same condition as oil in an emulsion with albumen, citing authorities in support of his belief. Ile con siders that in new milk the butter is present in oily drops, as it appears under the microscope; but his experiments show that if the milk is frozen at a temperature of 28° to 29°, they become solid, and remain in this condition after the milk is thawed. It can then be separated by churning, it is said, in two minutes, a result usually requir ing eleven minutes, which is a point of great prac tical importance. The conclusions of Tisserand, who has made an extended series of experiments upon the influence of low temperatures, varying from 32° to 97° (thermometrical quantities are Fahrenheit, raised from the Ceutigrade scale as given by Tisserand) upon milk and the production of butter, are similar to those of Soxhlet; for he finds that it renders the separation of the cream more rapid, increases its volume and the yield of butter, and improves the quality of the skimmed milk, butter and cheese. These effects increase with a decline of temperature. Dr. E. Lewis Stur tevant, in a paper on the physiological considera tions concerning the feeding for butter and cheese, states that milk derives its whiteness and opacity from the presence of innumerable globules of very minute size, floating in a water-like fluid or serum. These globules are composed of the butter-fats inclosed in a capsule or membranous covering, and vary in size from the 1,500th of' an inch to gran ules of less than the 27,000th of an inch in diame ter. The variation in size varies with the breed; it varies with the time from calving, and it varies with the food. After describing the process of the formation of these globules, and indicating their source, he says they are found to be larger in the Jersey cow than in the Ayrshire cow, and the Ayrshire globules are larger than those from the American Holstein. These globules are cov ered with a membrane of extreme tenuity, which 'protects their contents, and has to be ruptured through the process of churning before the contents of the different globules can aggregate into but ter. This covering is more easily broken in some breeds than in others. The Jersey cream can be churned into butter more quickly than can the Ayrshire cream. These coverings are also differ ently affected by the acidity developed in the milk. Twenty-four hours' standing will hasten the churning of Jersey milk more than will forty eight hours affect the churning of Ayrshire milk. The contents of these cells are in varying propor tion, and the mixture seems in part physical. Thus, the butter made from the milk of one breed may be more waxy than butter made in a like man ner from milk from a cow of a different breed. The butter made from the large globules of a milk appears to be of a superior grain to the butter made from the small globules of the same milk. Globules of a large size are more easily ruptured through the process of churning than those of a small size, and those of extreme minuteness can not be ruptured at all. Thus, the quantity of but ter obtained in practice is not dependent entirely on the amount of fat in the milk, by analysis, but rests upon the form in which it By means of a microscopic study of milk, the ex perienced worker can judge of the butter-value of a milk, and can quickly separate from a herd those cows which produce an unprofitable milk for the butter-manufacturer. He can also separate those milks which are the least valuable for the cheese maker from those that are the most valuable. He can also tell, to a certain extent ,what food will make his milk best for his purpose. Of the effect of food upon the yield of 'Ritter, from milk of dif ferent breeds, the writer says : The question of the effect of food upon the butter is, therefore, prin cipally a question concerning nutrition. of the di gestibility of food, and of the ability to cause cer tain constituents of the food to be taken up in a quantity sufficient for the wants of the animal as determined by structure. When a cow is produc ing less butter than her structure fits her for se creting, then must an increase of proper food in crease her butter product When her food is unfitted, through its character or condition, to supply the blood with the requisite elements, then must a change of food for the better be beneficial ly perceived on the butter-yield. We have an in dividual influence, however, which complicates the action of nutrition, for the superior cow is more a creature of art, the inferior cow more the production of nature, and accordingly the best and poorest cow of a herd being fed with an increased supply of food, in every case the better cow will respond to a greater extent than the poorer. The influence of the fats of the food in acceleratlig di gestion and other chemical re-actions of the food is of importance in a practical view of the effect of the feeding. It is even probable that the nearer the food given approaches the state in which its elements are found in the product (if the food be digestible in this state), the better the result. It is even probable that the presence of certain oils or fats in the food may influence to some extent the proportionate quantity of the separate oils in the butter and the fat. It is but as we regard an animal as a whole, and attempt to know her by the study of the history of how she came to be what she is, as well as what she is, that we can form an understanding of the action or product of any par ticular part. We recognize the formation of but ter as allied to the formation of fat, with this es sential difference—the fats are formed and stored subject to the order of the animal economy; the butter is formed and thrown off, and thus discon nected with the animal structure, is nominally subject but to the order of an external being, the calf or the milker. The summary of what would be indicated by the theory of the cow and her food is that each cow has a limit to production, gov erned by structure, and the greater gain of butter is when her food keeps her to this limit and is not in excess. Second, that the character of the food must influence to a certain extent the character of the butter, but that in the presence of abundant and similar food, heredity exerts a prepotent in fluence. The third indication is that the propor tion of the butter stands in no definite relation with the caseine, but that either may be increased within certain limits without a proportionate in crease of the other. I call this an indication only, for we have not as yet presented the formation of caseine, but will here assume that it arises in the milk through an entirely different process from the butter, and although influenced by structure, yet in a different manner from that in which the butter element is influenced, and there is accord ingly no necessarily direct co-relation between the quantity of these two products. A summary of facts indicating the same propositions as our theory is, first, that common experience has shown that one cow is always better than some other cow in a herd, and that no matter what may be the food the poorer cow can never, on the same kind of food, and both abundantly supplied, equal in pro duct the better cow. Our second proposition is shown by the experiments of Thomas Horsfall, as given in full in the Journal of the Royal Agri cultural Society of England, xvii. 260; xviii. 150. Our third, is the fact that the difference between the butter Percentage of various breeds is far greater than is the difference between the case in percentage; that a series of analyses of same milks at different periods from calving indicate no ratio between the two. In relation to the proposition maintaining that superior cows will always respond to increase of food to a larger extent than inferior ones, Dr. Sturtevant states that in just so far as animals have been removed from the natural state through breeding will they be influenced in their product by' a more nutritious and concentrated kind of food; for natural food may not be the best attainable under an artificial environment which not only exists, but has been of long continuance, although the same food may be the best in a state of nature. The art of

man consists in intensifying natural conditions in the direction toward hiri own desires. The natural food of animals, although best for the wild condition, cannot be considered as natural food when the whole condition of life of the animal, and her habits and functions, have been modified to a very large extent from those habits and functions of the undomesticated state; for artificial methods of long continuance, and ar tificial conditions brought about through ar tificial environment, tend to so completely change the conditions of being of the wild animal, that what in the wild animal might be an artificial food, may be the natural food for the slomesticated, animal, and vice versa. In fact, the establishing of harmony between form and function, food and desired product, is the using of the laws of nature through man's power for man's own good. The practical fact, which is worthy the attention of all those who keep cat tle, is that an increase of food, gained by the feeding of meals and other concentrated and ar tificial foods, may perhaps bring profit to the owner of superior while the same course pursued by the owner of indifferent ani mals would be surely done at a loss. One farmer can feed grain to his better cows and re ceive a profit on the extra cost, while his neigh bor, perhaps, with inferior stock, can increase his product but very little by the same means, and then this increase will not be sufficient to compensate for the extra expense. Im provement in breed, therefore, should hand in hand with improvement in feed. The dairy farmer who believes in artificial feeding, which experience shows to be the true course, must also, for the most profitable results, believe in an artificial breed. As the milk-functions are entirely the creation, in their usefulness, of man, and are hence artificial, the superior cow will pay a larger profit on concentrated food than will another animal, her inferior, while the inferior animals, under the feeding requisite to obtain the best results from a herd as a whole, are kept at a loss. The following is a summary of conclusions from the propositions advanced: First. That the production of butter is largely dependent on breed. Second. That there is a structural limit to the production of butter to each cow. Third. That when the cow is fed to this limit increased food cannot increase the product. Fourth. That the superior cow has this structural limit at a greater distance from ordinary feed, and more ready to respond to stimuli than the inferior cow. Fifth. That con sequently the superior cow is seldom fed to her limit, while the inferior cow may be easily fed beyond her limit; and, as a practical conclusion, increased feed with a superior lot of cows will increase the butter product, but if fed to an inferior lot of cows waste can be but the result. Sixth. That the character of the food has some influence on the charaCter ,.of the but ter, but even here breed influences more than food. Seventh. That there is no constant rela tion between the butter product and the cheese product. Eighth. That the caseine retains a con stant percentage, and that this percentage does not appear to respond to increase of food. Ninth. That the caseine appears to remain constant, without regard to the season. Tenth. That increase in the quantity of milk is fol lowed by an increase in the total amount of caseine. Eleventh. That insufficient food acts directly to check the proportion of butter, and has a tendency to decrease the caseine of the milk and substitute albumen. Twelfth. That the best practice of feeding is to regulate the charac ter of the food by the character of the animals fed; feeding superior cows nearer to the limit of their production than inferior cows; feeding, if for butter, more concentrated and nutritious foods than for cheese; feeding for cheese pro duct succulent material,• which will increase the quantity of the milk-yield. Mr. Curtiss, of Wisconsin, upon the subject of making butter, says: It is said that the small dairy farm cannot make good butter. That the odors of the kitchen from cooking, smoke, etc., uneven temperature, and various contingencies, beyond the control of those manipulating the milk into butter, make it absolutely beyond their power to make a good article. From the usual stand point I concede this to be a fact, but from an advanced stand point I do not. I much doubt if a better article of butter can be made by any other plan than the common tin pan, pro vided a pure atmosphere and a temperature of 60° can be controled. While I claim this, I concede the failure, because the small farm dairies cannot control these unalterable require ments. Whatever method is adopted to extract the cream from the milk, a uniform tempera ture is required; that degree of temperature must be in proportion to the quantity of milk set in one body; therefore, if the common, open tin pan, four inches deep, requires a tempera ture of 60°, a larger body of milk, set at blood heat, would require a colder temperature, or fermentation would take place before the cream rises. A colder temperature can be secured with ice. We also find a colder temperature in the earth, and that a uniform one of about 49°, at a point not exceeding ten feet froin the surface, provided we shut out the uneven atmosphere from above. It has been claimed that the raising of cream required air, but it has been proved that it does not—that it is all the better to ex clude all air; hence it appears feasible to put in use this regular temperature of 49° in the earth, provided we set the milk in proper quantities. In doing this we find ourselves required to close the vessels containing the milk ai•-tight; this confines the animal heat, which must be consid ered in concluding upon the size of the can to bold the milk. I have tried a great many experiments and finally used, for some three months, cans about eight and one-half inches in diameter by twenty deep. The cover was made like a com mon tin pail, only the flange going inside was two inches wide, and the top of the cover had a tube hole about one-fourth of an inch in diam eter, soldered fast. The cans were filled and the covers pressed down, while the tube hole was open to allow the air to escape as the flange of the cover entered the milk. The'tube hole was then closed with a cork, and then cans were lowered into the well about twenty feet, where they re mained until the next milking, when they were withdrawn and set in some convenient place until the cream thickened from acidity; it was then easily removed by dipping off with a saucer. I used these cans from the middle of last June to the middle of September, and it will be remem bered as a very unfavorable time for making good butter. We found the butter made from the cream raised in this manner to be good; that which was not used or sold (some 800 pounds), was packed for fall and winter use. The un favorable state of the atmosphere, so loudly com plained of by others, did not seem to affect the quantity or quality of the butter. In relation to salting butter, and butter packages, Mr. C. C. Buell, of Illinois, very correctly, holds that it is a question whether salt preserves butter at all by acting directly upon it. It probably does not. Its chief use, is to season it. Butter put up for long keeping requires much more salt than that to be used new, for the reason that in new-made butter the fresh flavor is dominant and gives to the butter its chief attraction and value. In the long-kept butter salt plays a more important part, and without plenty of it the butter is likely to taste fiat and insipid. Employed in the form of brine, distributed through and around the mass of butter, salt may, and undoubtedly does under favorable circumstances, prevent the in cipient development of germ life; but it is only the incipient development that it can control. tainted it has no power over. The smallest number of these developed spores lurk ing in churn, or worker, or ladle, or package, may be sufficient to spoil the whole'mass, just as a piece of tainted meat, no larger than a walnut, is sure to spoil the whole barrel—and "salt can't save it." So, then, it is only the package for good butter, the well-made butter, the fresh but ter, in which is not yet planted the seeds of -decay, that we need particularly to discuss here. Perfectly-made butter, if exposed to the air even but a short time, is as sure to go to destruction as if it were bad at the beginning. The air is full of these elements of destructive life, these spores or germs, and they fall upon the surface of what ever is exposed to it, or whatever air is, under non-preventive conditions, admitted to it. There can be only two kinds, the good and the bad— the air-tight and brine-tight package and the open and the package. We hardly need • say more under this head. A package made of what ever material, not injurious to the flavor of but ter, and of whatever shape, if it preserves the brine—which should be within, around and over the butter—is a good butter-package for preserv ing good butter. The commercial package, however, is usually quite a different thing. Its top is open, and its sides and bottom are not closed. The thin layer of salt spread over the top of the butter, the cross-grained, porous wood of stave and bottom, are the open ways of air and water. The oak firkin, which is the least used and least, acceptable to the trade, is un doubtedly the best of the ordinary packages. The Welsh tub, in which most of the Western butter is sent to market, is a little better than the bail-box, which is only next better than the shoe box and salt-barrel. Qualitative analyses of but ter, have been tabulated as follows: All of these fats are composed of three parts of acid united to one part of glycerine as a base; in such union three atoms of water are liberated. The reaction may be represented as follows: