SECRETARY'S REPORT. 93 



required for ripening. Reduction of labor and increase of product 

 have been effected by the substitution of improved apparatus in 

 place of the old fashioned cheese tub and other utensils. Both of 

 these objects are assisted, and at the same time an improvement in 

 quality is gained, by the adoption of an improved method of sepa- 

 rating whey from curd ; viz., by the chemical action of warmth 

 applied to the curd in the whey, causing a contraction and precipi- 

 tation of the curd. This method of separating whey from curd 

 effects a change in the latter which enables it (after pressure) to 

 ripen with greater rapidity than when the separation is mainly 

 accomplished by mechanical means ; indeed, there is reason to be- 

 lieve that a proper cooking of the curd in the whey, is, of itself, 

 the equivalent of a portion of the former curing process. 



The important points in cheese-making are few and may be easily 

 and clearly stated so as to be readily understood ; but to be able to 

 secure their being fully carried out in practical operations, so as to 

 secure uniformly good results, and to be prepared for any contin- 

 gencies which may arise, as an unexpected degree of acidity or 

 any unusual temperature, electrical condition, or other state of the 

 atmosphere, requires practical skill which can be obtained only by 

 careful study and close observation aided by a competent teacher. 



The first point I will mention is cleanliness ; and this is quite as 

 important in the butter as in the cheese dairy. 



The second ; that the milk be in the proper state as to tempera- 

 ture, and not too far advanced towards acidity when the rennet is 

 added. 



The third ; that the rennet be properly prepared, and sweet, and 

 that a suflScient quantity, and no more, be added. 



The fourth ; that the whey be properly separated from the curd. 



The fifth ; curing or ripening. 



First. Cleanliness ; absolute cleanliness, and by this is meant afl^ 

 great deal more than exemption from visible dirtiness. The inferior^ 

 character of a considerable portion of the dairy products manufac- 

 tured not only in Maine, but anywhere and everywhere, and 

 especially the bad flavor, which although not perceptible when 

 new, but which develops in an unmistakable manner with age, in 

 both butter and cheese, is chiefly owing to lack of proper care and 

 cleanliness in the full sense of the latter term. To understand this 

 better, let me say that casein or the curdy portion of milk is a 

 nitrogenous body, and like all nitrogenous animal substances is 



