An investigation of farm or dairy buttermaking : dissertation

Abstract

Butter is one of the oldest articles of diet which is being manufactured today. Hayward, in collecting data concerning the history of butter, found it mentioned in the Vedas - written 2,000 to 1,400 B. C. Its importance at that time is uncertain but reports show that later its manufacture was practiced in countries which today have but few dairy interests. It has been used during the past for various purposes but probably never reached the importance commercially that it has at present. In addition to being a food, it was formerly used as an object for sacrifice in worship, a remedy for injuries to the skin, a hair dressing, an ointment for the body, an oil for lamps, and as an indication of wealth. It was not, however, until recent years that dairy farming and manufacture of butter took the important place that it now holds in agricultural science and practice. It was not until the establishment of agricultural schools and colleges that an effort was made to improve methods and product. The effort is now being made in all dairy sections and is due largely to the advance of agricultural science and the dissemination of knowledge through colleges, agricultural newspapers, bulletins and circulars. The present demand for butter as a food is such that it has proven profitable to increase the study of conditions affecting its quality and to improve methods in order that a better and more uniform product may be offered to the market and consumer. The demands of that market and its resulting classification of butter will enable a better understanding of the importance and position of dairy or farm butter on the American markets. The demands of the leading butter markets of the United States vary but little and are largely determined by the requirements as stated by the New York Merchantile Exchange.