REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURE OF AYRSHIRE. 97 



carefully piled in square pieces on the raised centre of the bot- 

 tom, where it rests for an hour or so with no pressure other than 

 its own weight, — the whey meanwhile oozing off towards 

 the sides and passing out at the vent. The curd is again cut 

 into squares, which are reversed and piled as before on the 

 centre, and after drippiug for another half-hour or so, it is ready 

 to be broken by the mill. In some dairies before putting 

 through the mill, the curd is placed in vats and moderately ' 

 pressed for about half-an-hour. 



Mr. Norton and some others in Ayrshire prior to his time, 

 differ somewhat in their " slip-scalding" practice from that given 

 above. With them a quantity of the whey is first drawn off and 

 heated, and as much poured back as will raise the whole con- 

 tents to about that heat at which the milk was thickened or 

 fully higher — viz., from 80° to 85° ; continually stirring for at 

 least a quarter of an hour, or some days longer, till the curd is 

 thoroughly separated. Half-an-hour or so being elapsed, whey 

 is a second time drawn off and heated, and the curd again 

 scalded, this time to about 100° ; and another half-hour spent 

 and the curd sunk, the whole whey is then drawn off and the 

 process gone on with as already stated. Norton's followers, 

 however, seldom scald so high as 100° ; raising the temperature 

 of the mass according to the kind of land on which the cows 

 may be grazing and the season of the year — that is, on light 

 sands they scald to a less heat, and on heavy clay soils to 96° 

 or fully. No fixed rules as to exact degrees of temperature, for 

 every day and for every farm, can be laid down : practice and 

 close observation must decide. Norton was also careful never 

 to raise the temperature of the whey for scalding with higher 

 than 120°, rather using a greater measure of whey, as he con- 

 sidered that the flavour of the cheese was apt to be hurt some- 

 what if the scalding-whey was too hot. A small quantity of 

 sour whey (about 3 to 100) is stirred in, but that is nothing new, 

 as a like practice has always been followed by many Duulop 

 makers. It is thought better to add the sour whey whilst the 

 curd is being scalded, although some put it in along with the 

 rennet. The sour whey, or soured milk answers equally as well, 

 will tend to shorten the texture of the cheese, we should sup- 

 pose. The time that the square pieces must lie and dreep an 

 the raised centre till sufficiently tough and sourish, and the du- 

 ration of the " stirring" process whilst scalding, are determined 

 only by skill and patience. On some days the curd will be ready 

 for the mill in little more than an hour's time, and on others it 

 may have to lie for two or three hours The general rule is, in 

 warm weather the processes must be hastened, and in cold 

 weather the contrary. Cheddar makers in fact are obliged to go 

 by " rule-of-thumb" just as much as the Dunlop makers, caused 



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