260 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



ful of curd, squeeze the whey out, and if the curd will drop apart 

 as the hand is opened, the cooking has been carried far enough, 

 and should be arrested, either by drawing off the whey or cooling 

 down to the temperature of the room by the use of cold water 

 between the vats. 



After a little experience the careful cheese-maker will be 

 enabled to turn off the heat in time to give the curd the required 

 firmness by the time the temperature of the curd has fallen to a 

 level with that of the cheese room. 



And whenever the judgment of the cheese-maker, and the 

 condition of the curd will warrant the adoption of this plan, it 

 will be found less laborious and more economical. 



Under the old system of cheese-making the curd was drained 

 at this stage, then salted, and put to press. 



But another chemical change is now considered necessary for 

 the production of the finest quality of cheese. The milk sugar 

 must partly change to lactic acid. This change should never take 

 place until after the cooking process is completed. The acidifying 

 process, as it is called, is by far the most important point in the 

 whole process of cheese-making. To insure the right scald, and 

 the right degree of acidity, care and good common sense are 

 required, and in addition, an apprenticeship is absolutely neces- 

 sary. 



No rules can be given on paper which will serve the cheese- 

 maker as an unerring guide by which these two important points 

 can be decided so long as milk is ever varying in composition, 

 and changing its condition with every change of temperature, 

 from the moment it is drawn from the cows until it is manufac- 

 tured into cheese. 



These two vital points in cheese-making must be determined by 

 sight, taste and smell. And as no two persons possess these 

 senses in precisely the same degree of perfection for any consid- 

 erable time, for the reason that they are liable to destruction and 

 capable of improvement, no rules, as I said before, can serve and 

 guide alike two individuals in the use of these faculties. 



The most common practice of our Herkimer dairymen is to 

 allow sufficient whey to remain in the vat to cover the curd until 

 the degree of acidity desired is obtained, when the whey is 

 drained off and the curd salted and put to press. The acid will 

 always be detected in the whey before it can be discovered in the 



