tion; squeeze the butter well, to extract the water from it, and
afterwards wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain. Sift
the flour; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following
manner to make the paste, using a very _clean_ paste-board and
rolling-pin:--Supposing the quantity to be 1 lb. of flour, work the
whole into a smooth paste, with not quite 1/2 pint of water, using a
knife to mix it with: the proportion of this latter ingredient must be
regulated by the discretion of the cook; if too much be added, the
paste, when baked, will be tough. Roll it out until it is of an equal
thickness of about an inch; break 4 oz. of the butter into small pieces;
place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over,
roll out again, and put another 4 oz. of butter. Repeat the rolling and
buttering until the paste has been rolled out 4 times, or equal
quantities of flour and butter have been used. Do not omit, every time
the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the
rolling-pin, to prevent both from sticking. Handle the paste as lightly
as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin. The
next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry
requires particular attention. Do not put it into the oven until it is
sufficiently hot to raise the paste; for the best-prepared paste, if not
properly baked, will be good for nothing. Brushing the paste as often as
rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of
an egg, assists it to rise in _leaves_ or _flakes_. As this is the great
beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method.

_Average cost_, 1s. 4d. per lb.

BUTTER.--About the second century of the Christian era, butter
was placed by Galen amongst the useful medical agents; and about
a century before him, Dioscorides mentioned that he had noticed
that fresh butter, made of ewes' and goats' milk, was served at
meals instead of oil, and that it took the place of fat in
making pastry. Thus we have undoubted authority that, eighteen
hundred years ago, there existed a knowledge of the useful
qualities of butter. The Romans seem to have set about making it
much as we do; for Pliny tells us, "Butter is made from milk;
and the use of this element, so much sought after by barbarous
nations, distinguished the rich from the common people. It is
obtained principally from cows' m