SECRETARY'S REPORT. 127 



adheres so closely to the cheese as not to be readily loosened, mar- 

 ring- the rind and oftentimes taking out considerable portions of 

 the cheese. It may be proper to say that the table^ bed, where 

 the cheese rests, should never be painted. 



The recent invention of the cheese tack is a great improvement 

 over the table. The cheese rack consists of scantling, four inches 

 by five inches, with the corners beveled or cut so as to be 5-sided ; 

 these are framed the proper distance apart at the ends, and set on 

 legs of the desired height, forming a skeleton table. Round cov- ■ 

 ers, of inch hemlock or pine, bound with stout elm rims, three or 

 four inches wide, set upon the racks and hold the cheese. When 

 the cheese is to be turned, a spare cover is placed on top, and the 

 cheese and covers turned over ; the cover now on top is removed, 

 rubbed with a cloth, and is ready to be applied to the next cheese. 

 The rims of the covers protect the edges of the cheese in the pro- 

 cess of turning ; and a part of the cheese, swinging down in the 

 open space between the timbers and the rims, resting on the bev- 

 eled sides, renders the operation not only easy, but it insilres safety 

 to the cheese. A large cheese can be turned with as much ease on 

 a properly constructed rack as the loosening of a smaller cheese 

 on the table preparatory to being turned. Large cheese are diffi- 

 cult to handle on a table, and are liable to have their edges broken, 

 or in other ways marred in turning. 



The sink, where the curd is drained and salted, should be con- 

 venient to the vats, movable, being provided with rollers and 

 placed on a track leading to the press room, so that the- curd may 

 be dipped directly into the hoops where it is to be pressed. 



This will not only be a saving in time and labor, but will avoid 

 occasional losses in dropping particles of curd or spilling it by 

 accident, which is liable to occur when it is carried by hand from 

 one room to another. It will be scarcely necessary to observe that 

 the whey vats should be a considerable distance from the manu- 

 facturing room ; for as milk is very susceptible to taints, and is af- 

 fected by the state of the atmosphere, every means must be taken 

 to promote the most favorable condition in the milk for the produc- 

 tion of fine cheese. 



In starting a manufactory some little anxiety may be, had in 

 regard to the most suitable size of the cheese to be made. This, 

 doubtless, may be controlled somewhat, from time to time, by the 

 market for which the cheese is manufactured. The home trade, 



