126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



twenty-three inches in diameter is used for cheese weighing- one 

 hundred and fifty pounds, it should be at least fourteen or fifteen 

 inches higl^ and be provided with iron handles on the sides for 

 convenience in moving and slipping it from the cheese. 



Messrs. Ralph & Co., of Utica, New York, have devised and 

 are manufacturing metal hoops, which are very convenient, and 

 admit of a closer fitting follower than wood, which shrinks and 

 swells. Some of them are of tin, heavily but neatly banded, while 

 the latest pattern are of galvanized iron. 



A suggestion in regard to properly constructed milk cans for 

 delivering milk, may perhaps be deserving of a passing notice. 



Cans holding from forty to sixty gallons will be of convenient 

 size, and should be well and nicely made from the best of tin. The 

 cover should be with a rim, and tapering so that it may be pressed 

 into the can, and down to the milk, making a close fit. In the 

 centre of the cover is a three-quarter inch hole for the air to escape 

 while pressing the cover to its place ; it is then to be closed with 

 a cork. A faucet is provided near the bottom for conducting out 

 the milk into the receiving cans at the factory, where it is weighed 

 by the superintendent. Formerly the milk was measured, but lat- 

 terly weighing seems to be in favor. 



The platform where the receiving cans are placed stands higher 

 than the v-ats, and as fast as each dairyman delivers milk it is 

 weighed and conducted into the vats by merely opening the fau- 

 cets. This platform commands a view of all parts of the manu- 

 facturing room, is provided with desks, and it is here the books 

 are kept for noting the quantity of milk delivered, and the calcula- 

 lations made for the quantity of rennet, annatto and salt to be used 

 for each vat of milk. 



Tables and racks of convenient height for handling the cheese 

 are arranged in the curing house, on which the cheese is placed as 

 it comes from the press, and where it remains during the process 

 of curing. ' Each cheese when it is placed on the table receives a 

 record of its weight and date neatly marked on its bandage. 



The wood best adapted for the table bed is hemlock. It should 

 be smooth and level, and made of well seasoned stuff. Pine is 

 sometimes used, but being more or less resinous is apt to impart 

 something of its flavor to the cheese ; the cheese also adheres to 

 it more closely than hemlock. Wood like basswood is objection- 

 able, doing damage to the cheese, and should not be used, for it' 



