OCR Text |
Show PRESERVATION OF BUTTER. Italian Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce has addressed a communication to the Chamber of Commerce of Milan, relative to the renewed experiments in salting butter with borax which have been carried out at the Agricultural Station at Florence. Borax would appear to have a most marvellous effect in securing its absolute preservation. Samples of fresh butter made at the Florence station, and purposely not carefully freed of the butter-milk, were found, on the addition of about 8 per cent, of borax, to maintain their natural fine flavor, without the least change whatever, for upwards of three months. To attain this satisfactory result it is necessary that the borax should be perfectly dry and in very fine powder, and care must be taken to insure its thorough mixture with the whole mass of the butter operated on. Among the further advantages of this plan, it is noted that borax imparts no flavor of any kind to the butter, while it is entirely harmless in its nature, and also reasonably cheap. Still later experiments have shown that a very much smaller proportion of borax suffices to produce the desired effect, and, also, that simple solutions of the salt act quite as well as the dried powder. The consumers on the Continent are averse to salted butter, and hence they may prefer borax as a preservative, while our people will adhere to their salt.-California Farmer. |