STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 307 



escape from the curd, otherwise you will have a leaky cheese and apt to 

 swell, as it cannot be scalded f!;ood if not fine. 



I observe no particular time for cutting up the curd, only this: when 

 the weather is cool and the milk very rich and sweet, the curd is apt to 

 be not very firm, then it should be cut more careful and slower than in 

 warm weather, when it will be observed that it coagulates quicker and 

 is more firm than in cool weather. 



My rule for beginning to heat up the scald is this: I let my cheese 

 stand fifteen minutes after I get it cut fine enough ; b}^ that time the 

 whey has settled and has become quite clear, and the curd has hardened 

 a little, so, by stirring it when I begin to scald, it will not start the white 

 whey; the time occupied in raising is from forty-five to sixty minutes, 

 according to the condition of the milk; if a little inclined to be sour, less 

 time can be used; if scalded up too quick, the cheese is apt to swell and 

 leak whey. 



I use O. O'Xeil & Co.'s patent vat and heater. Heat is applied to 

 scald by pipes connecting the heater with the w^ater vat, the milk vat 

 being placed within the water vat. A space is left for hot water, and 

 when the right heat is obtained it is easily shut off by two cut-offs in the 

 pipes leading from the heater to the water vat; (I recommend this to all 

 who are in the cheese business.) I use one hundred degrees of heat to 

 scald. There can be no clock time determined to keep the curd in the 

 whey after the scalding heat is obtained; it all depends upon the condi- 

 tion of the milk. If the milk is very rich, and the weather cool, so that 

 the milk keeps a long time sweet, the curd must remain in the whey 

 much longer than when the milk is not so rich, and the weather is very 

 warm, and the milk a little inclined to sour. 



1 vary my rule for scalding according to the condition of the milk and 

 the weather, as stated above. 



I tell when my curd is scalded enough by pressing a portion of it in 

 the hand; if it makes a squeaking noise, and has lost its shiny appeai"- 

 ance, and when relieved from the hand M'ill crumble up fine and not 

 remain in a solid mass, it is cooked enough. 



I separate the whey and the curd by drawing the whey off at one end 

 of my vat, through a curd strainer made of perforated tin, raising one 

 end of the vat when the whey is mostly out, so that it may drain off as 

 much as possible before salting. I get the whey out as much as possible 

 before salting, and salt when warm. 



I use A. B. Winnager's first premium salt, two and a half pounds to 

 one hundred pounds of curd ; apply it to the curd by sprinkling it over 

 it when warm, and work it in thoroughly. 



I put the curd to press as soon as it is cool. If put to the press warm, 

 it is apt to stick to the pressing cloth, and hurts the flavor of the cheese. 



I ])ress with lever power, two thousand pounds to a cheese that weighs 

 one hundred pounds, and press twenty-four hours. 



The cause of the pressing cloth adhering to the cheese, is — the curd is 

 put in too warm and the cloth too dry; cool the curd and wet the cloth . 

 with cold water, and it will not adhere. 



To color cheese to give it a rich yellow color inside, I use anotto dis- 

 solved in strong lye ; boil it for a little time in a tin dish, let it settle and 

 cool, then strain it off and put it into a bottle, and cork it tight. Enough 

 to use two weeks may be prepared at a time; if kept much longer it is 

 apt to give the cheese a bad flavor. This should be added at the time of 

 adding the rennet. To color the outside, I always color the bandage 

 cloth before I put it on the cheese. I think this the best way. 



