THE SCIENCE OF BAD BUTTER.
We once took occasion to give our opinion of the butter which was largely brought to our market. The article was deemed severe; but if they who think so had eaten of the butter they would have regarded that as the more pungent of the two. We have waited a year; and are now prepared more fully to testify against that utter abomination, slanderously called butter, so unrighteously exchanged in our market for good money. Far the most part, the cream is totally depraved at the start, and churning, working, and packing are only the successive steps of an evil education by which bad inclinations are developed into overt wickedness. We determined to keep an eye upon the matter; and now give, from life, the natural history of the butter sold.
Before doing this, we will express an opinion of what is good butter.
Good butter is made of sweet cream, with perfect neatness; is of a high color, perfectly sweet, free from buttermilk, and possesses a fine grass flavor.
Tolerable butter differs from this only in not having a fine flavor. It is devoid of all unpleasant taste, but has not a high relish.
Whatever is less than this is bad butter; the catalogue is long and the descending scale is marked with more varieties than one may imagine.
Variety 1. Butter-milk Butter.—This has not been well worked, and has the taste of fresh buttermilk. It is not very disagreeable to such as love fresh buttermilk; but as it is a flavor not expected in good butter, it is usually disagreeable.
Variety 2. Strong Butter.—This is one step farther along, and the buttermilk is changing and beginning to assert its right to predominate over the butteraceous flavor;
yet it may be eaten with some pleasure if done rapidly, accompanied with very good bread.