o
butter; but of course the quality of the article will be of the very
worst kind.

A correspondent of the _Lancet_ states that, on awakening about
three o'clock in the morning at the house in which he was lodging, he
perceived a light below the door of his room; and apprehending a fire,
he hurried down stairs, and was not a little surprised to discover the
whole family engaged in manipulating butter. He was informed in a jocose
way that they were making Epping butter! For this purpose they used
inferior Irish butter, which, by repeated washings, was freed from its
excessive amount of salt; after which it was frequently bathed in sweet
milk, the addition of a little sugar being the concluding stroke in the
process. This "sweet fresh butter from Epping" was sold at a profit of
100 per cent. Our dairy farmers might take a hint from this anecdote.
Does it not prove that the mere removal of the salt added to Irish
butter doubles the value of the article?

It is as necessary to pay attention to the packing of butter as it is
to its salting. If old firkins be employed, great care should be taken
in cleaning them, and if the staves be loose, the firkins should be
steeped in hot water, in order to cause the wood to swell, and thereby
to bring the edges of the staves into close contact. New firkins often
communicate a disagreeable odour to the butter. In order to guard
against this, it is the practice in many parts to fill the firkins with
very moist garden mould, which, after the lapse of a few days, is thrown
out, and the firkin thoroughly scrubbed with hot water, rinsed with the
same fluid in a cold state, and finally rubbed with salt, just before
being used.

In packing the butter, the chief object to be kept in view is the
exclusion of air. In order to accomplish this, the lumps of butter
should be pressed firmly together, and also against the bottom and sides
of the vessel. When the products of several churnings are placed in the
same firkin, the surface of each churning should be furrowed, so that
the next layer may be mixed with it. A firkin should never be filled in
a single operation. About six inches of butter of each churning will
be quite sufficient, and in a large dairy two or more firkins can be
gradually but simultaneously filled. I strongly recommend the removal
of the pickle jar from the dairy. When the layers of butter have been
carried up to within an inch or so of the top of the firkin, the space
between