it in pieces to take out cow-hairs;" this appeared to us the
oddest direction of all, for surely it was possible to remove them
from the cream before it was put into the churn. We were very much
dissatisfied with the amount of practical knowledge we gleaned from
our books; they seemed to us written for the benefit of those who
already were well acquainted with the management of a dairy, and
consequently of very little service to those who wished to acquire the
rudiments of the art of butter-making.

The next morning we proceeded to make a trial, and the first thing we
did was to strain the cream through a loose fine cloth into the churn,
then taking the handle we began to turn it vigorously;* [Ninety times
in a minute is the proper speed with which the handle should be
turned.] the weather was hot, and after churning for more than an
hour, there seemed as little prospect of butter as when we commenced.
We stared at each other in blank amazement. Must we give it up? No;
that was not to be thought of. H. suddenly remembered, that somewhere
she had heard that in warm weather you should put the churn in cold
water. As ours was a box one, we did not see how we could manage this;
but the bright idea entered her head, that if we could not put the
water outside the churn we might _in_: so we pumped a quart of
spring-water into it and churned away with fresh hopes: nor were we
disappointed; in about a quarter of an hour we heard quite a different
sound as we turned the handle, which assured us that the cream had
undergone a change, and taking off the lid--(how many times had we
taken it off before!)--we saw what at that moment appeared the most
welcome sight in the world--some lumps of rich yellow butter. It was
but a small quantity, but there it was: the difficulty was overcome so
far. But now there arose the question of what we were to do with it in
order to clean if from the butter milk, for all our authorities
insisted on the necessity of this being done, though they did not
agree in the mode of doing it. One said, that "if it was washed, it
would not keep good, because water soon became putrid, and so would
the butter." We were told by another book, "that if it was _not_
washed it would be of two colors, and dreadfully rank." We thought
that it would be easier not to wash it, and it was bad enough to
justify the term "muck," which was applied to it by the kitchen
oracles, who rejoiced exceedingly in our discomfiture. We lef