let come to a boil, skimming it occasionally as it boils up.  It needs close watching now, the fat being liable to cook over the top of boiler, when the “fat” will surely be “in the fire.”  Carefully pour into stone crock, and it may be kept for months in a cool place.  The fat which has been first poured off the top, if it has been carefully skimmed, will keep longest.  The last taken from the boiler should be put in a stone crock to use first.  This may be prepared in lesser quantities, or a smaller quantity of butter might be used to mix with the lard and suet.  Although the preparation is to be preferred composed of equal quantities of butter, lard and suet, adding milk to the first water in which the suet is boiled is quite an improvement.  After filling the crocks with the fat, take the boiled-out suet and hard scraps and settlings of butter remaining and go through the same process and you will have a small jar of cooking fat for immediate use.  A little trouble to do this, I admit, but one is well paid by having good, sweet, inexpensive cooking fat.  I should advise a young housekeeper to experiment with one pound each of clarified suet and pork fat after it is rendered, and one pound of butter before attempting the preparation of a larger quantity.

BUTTER—­AS IT WAS MADE AT THE FARM, BY “AUNT SARAH”

Aunt Sarah strained fresh, sweet milk into small, brown earthenware crocks kept for this purpose, scrupulously clean.  The crocks were kept in the spring-house or cellar in summer (in cold weather the milk should be kept in a warmer place to allow cream to form on the top of the milk).  When the cream was thick and sour she skimmed the cream from off the top of milk every day, stirring the cream well together every time she added fresh cream to that on hand.  Aunt Sarah churned twice a week; sour cream should not be kept a longer time than one week.  The churn was scalded with boiling water, then rinsed with cold water; this prevented the butter adhering to the churn.  The cream should be at a temperature of 60 degrees when put in the churn, but this would be almost too cold in Winter.  In very hot weather the temperature of the cream should be 56 degrees.  Aunt Sarah tested the cream with a small dairy tube thermometer.  She churned steadily and usually had butter “come” in about 25 minutes, but should the cream he too cold or too warm it would be necessary to churn a longer time.  If the cream is too warm, stand vessel containing cream on ice; if too cold, stand in a warm place near the range.  When the sour cream had been churned a certain length of time and granules of butter had formed, she drained off the buttermilk and poured water over the granules of butter.  Water should be two degrees colder than the buttermilk.  After churning a few minutes the lump of butter was removed from the churn, placed in a bowl, washed thoroughly several times in very cold water, until no buttermilk