Fig. 116.
Fig. 117.
The figures impressed on the butter are given by the mould, where it is deeply engraved; or they are made after the butter is taken out of the mould, and for this purpose a peculiar instrument is used, [Fig. 117], a kind of flat wooden spoon, with a short, convenient handle, and long grooves in the broad, flat surface. Each region has its own peculiar stamp, or special figures, which are given to lump-butter, to which particular attention is paid by the purchaser. The butter-dealer knows exactly that in one section butter is stamped in one way, in another section in some other way; and that the butter of one section, with its peculiar stamp, is worth more than that of another.
The butter-moulds are generally made of linden-wood, but must always be large enough to hold at least a certain prescribed weight of butter; for all lump-butter brought for sale to the weekly market must be of a prescribed weight. This weight is very different, and almost every city has different regulations and market customs; yet, in most places, a pound is the legal weight. Certain market-masters, or inspectors of butter, are appointed, and watch that all the butter has its proper weight. If too light, it is forfeited by the seller, who is also punished for fraud. The butter brought to market is generally covered with very clean white cloths, and several sample lumps are put for inspection in a large butter-bowl, basket, or shallow box.
Many dairymen are accustomed in spring, when the first grass butter is made, to send their regular customers a few little lumps of fresh May or grass butter. These presents generally have a peculiar form, and on the specimens most carefully prepared some animal is moulded, as a sheep lying down, a dog, &c., with a bunch of green grass or buttercups in its mouth. The dairy-woman herself usually presents this butter in a beautiful milk-bowl adorned with grass and flowers, covered with glittering white cloths.
The Packing of Butter in Firkins and Barrels.
—If the butter packed in firkins and barrels is to be kept a long time, experience and knowledge are required to pack it so that it will not be injured. The form and size of these casks are different in different sections and provinces. Where butter-making forms a chief branch of dairy business, the particular form and size which have been used for a long time are adhered to, because dairymen know very well that the public recognizes their choice butter by the form and size of the casks, and buys it the more readily. The greatest anxiety of the Dutch butter-maker is to keep up the old, well-earned reputation which Dutch butter has in every foreign country, both for its intrinsic good qualities, the result of the process of manufacture, and for its extraordinary appearance as an article of commerce.
For the proper preservation of the good qualities of butter, it is of the highest importance to have the casks properly made and treated; but the mode of salting and packing the butter in them is also of special importance, since this is examined at the sale. The old and customary forms and sizes of butter-casks are, therefore, of great consequence to the butter-maker, because every butter-dealer and judge of butter recognizes at once, by the external form of the casks, from what section the butter comes, and makes up his mind on the money value of the article from these appearances.
It was not originally known what kinds of wood were best for transporting butter long distances in, and preserving its highest qualities; and butter-casks were made of several kinds of wood, as oak, beech, willow, etc. But it was for the interest of the government that Dutch butter should maintain its reputation for extraordinary qualities abroad, and the most rigid laws were enacted, prescribing from what wood the casks should be made, etc.; and now only oak is allowed to be used, and the casks are all inspected and stamped according to law. * * * *