51,637

Of late years the exportation to foreign and colonial countries has
fallen off; still the export trade is very considerable, probably
amounting to 450,000 cwts. per annum. During the year 1867, the imports
of foreign butter into Great Britain amounted to 1,142,262 cwts.

I have quoted the above statistics for the purpose of demonstrating
the great importance of the butter trade to this country. Not only is a
large proportion of the agricultural community pecuniarily interested in
the production of this article, but the exportation is the chief cause
of the commercial prosperity of a city, which, in point of population,
ranks third in the kingdom. If butter, then, be an article of so much
importance, it is obvious that the greatest care should be taken in its
preparation, and that the efforts of both scientific and practical men
should be directed towards the best mode of improving its quality. If
the principles involved in the production of butter were thoroughly
understood, and generally known, I believe that such terms as "seconds,"
"thirds," and "fourths," would speedily fall into disuse; that there
would be only one kind of butter sent into the market; and that the
article would always be of the best quality, in other words, "firsts."

_Composition of Butter._--The composition and quality of butter depend
to a great extent upon the condition of the milk or cream from which it
is prepared, and on the skill and cleanliness of the dairy-maid. It
consists essentially of fatty and oily matters, but it is always found
in combination with casein (cheesy matter) and water. The following
analyses, made by Mr. Way, late consulting chemist to the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, shows its composition:--

INGREDIENTS PER CENT.

1. 2. 3.

Fatty matters 82.70 79.67 79.12
Casein 2.45 3.38 3.37
Water 14.85 16.95 17.51

No. 1 analysis shows the composition of a specimen obtained from the
well-known Mr. Horsfall's dairy. It was made from raw cream. The other
specimens were the produce of a Devonshire dairy, and were prepared from
scalded cream. In several specimens of well-made and unsalted Irish
butter which I have analysed, I found the proportion of casein or cheesy
matter never to exceed 1 per cent., whilst in the analysis above stated
the centesimal amount is on the average more than 3 per cent.

The fatty