The time of churning is by no means an unimportant matter. Various contrivances have been made to shorten this operation; but the opinions of the best and most successful dairymen concur that it cannot be too much hastened without injuring the fine quality and consistency of the butter. The time required depends much on the temperature of the cream; and this can be regulated at convenience, as indicated above. The temperature of the dairy-room should be as uniform as possible. The practice of the best and most successful dairymen differs in respect to the degree to which it should be kept; but the range is from 52° to 62° Fahr., and I am inclined to think from 58° to 60° the best. At 60°, with a current of fresh, pure air passing over it, the cream will rise very rapidly and abundantly. The greatest density of milk is at about 41°, and cream rises with great difficulty and slowness as the temperature falls below 50° towards that point. A practical butter dealer of New York gives the following as the best mode of packing butter, or putting it up for a distant market. The greatest care, he says, should be taken to free the butter entirely from milk, by working it and washing it after churning at a temperature so low as to prevent it from losing its granular character and becoming greasy. The character of the product depends in a great measure on the temperature of churning and working, which should be between sixty and seventy degrees Fahr. If free from milk, eight ounces of Ashton salt is sufficient for ten pounds. Western salt should never be used, as it injures the flavor. While packing, the contents of the firkin should be kept from the air by being covered with saturated brine. No undissolved salt should be put in the bottom of the firkin. Goshen butter is reputed best, though much is put up in imitation of it, and sold at the same price. Great care should be taken to have the firkins neat and clean. They should be of white oak, with hickory hoops, and should hold about eighty pounds. Wood excludes air better than stone, and consequently keeps butter better. Tubs are better than pots. Western butter comes in coarse, ugly packages; even flour and pork barrels are sometimes used. Much of it must be worked over and re-packed here before it will sell. It generally contains a good deal of milk, and if not re-worked soon becomes rancid. Improper packing, in kegs too large and soiled on the outside, makes at least three cents a pound difference. Whatever the size of the firkin, it must be perfectly tight and quite full of butter, so that when opened the brine, though present, will not be found on the top.