Remember to soak the covers of the packages, and before fastening them on sprinkle salt to a depth of a quarter of an inch over the top of the butter cloth or paper. Never leave the cover off the packages for any length of time, for the reason that it will not only cause the top of the butter to become discolored, but it will also admit the air and spoil the top of the butter for several inches.
The moment you have packed your butter get it into a cool place—the cooler the better—and thereafter keep it as cool as possible, until you have disposed of it.
THERMOMETERS IN THE DAIRY.
Frederic Sumner says "There is no more use in trying to run a dairy without a good tested thermometer than there would be to attempt sailing a vessel without a rudder," and I heartily agree with him. A good thermometer can be purchased for from fifty cents to a dollar, and at these prices is certainly within the reach of every dairyman. Too much depends upon the temperature of the water in which we cool our milk, the room we ripen our cream in, do our churning in, and the temperature of the milk, cream, and the butter itself, to attempt any guess work. Our grandmothers used thumb and finger to ascertain the temperature of milk and cream, but in these days of fifty cents, seventy-five cents, and a dollar a pound butter we find "thumb-rule" will not work. An illustration of a thermometer made expressly for dairy use, is given; they are made of glass and float upright in the milk or cream. The churning and cheese points are marked for the convenience of new beginners; they retail at about fifty cents, and can be purchased from any dealer in dairy goods.
