FINE POINTS IN CHEESE MAKING. 



181 



begin soon after one. For the other months this last operation 

 would vary from one to four o'clock for its commencement. 



The third section of the subject involves the whole question of 

 curing. The curd from the press is simply an aggregation of dif- 

 ferent elements which shall eventually unite to form one simple 

 substance, a marketable cheese. To accomplish the desired end, 

 the curd must be placed under a suitable degree of temperature 

 and moisture also, to allow a breaking down or mellowing of the 

 constituent parts. Elxperience has shown that 75° is the needed 

 temperature, and it should be maintained as uniformly as possible. 



This place, or cui'ing room, is no dr3ing room in any sense. The 

 comparison between the baking and burning of bricks, and the 

 making and curing of cheese, which is so commonl}- instituted, is 

 completely wrong. Good cheese curds have not a drop of water to 

 spare, and the air surrounding them should be saturated with 

 moisture. 



A great barn like room, or second or third story floors of unen- 

 closed buildings, are all alike to be condemned. The fullest and 

 latest conclusions arrived at for the curing place are complete exclu- 

 sion of the external conditions of weather, and immediate contact 

 with the ground. The enclosed room, if put up on top of posts, 

 and thus exposed to both heat and cold through the floor, is not 

 sufficient for fine work. The August heats will drive the thermome- 

 ter above 80°, and the October cold will send it too far in the 

 opposite direction. The curing room of a new factor}-, or the recon- 

 struction of the old one, should be made after the following method : 



Stone wall and underpinning are to be laid to the height decided 

 upon for the sills, and the earth of the excavation can be thrown to 

 the inside, for the purpose of levelling off" the surface, smooth, and 

 up to the level of the sills. These can be laid in the usual manner, 

 with some additional device to hold the spread of the walls. A 

 shoulder on the wall, or iron pins set in the walls, at regular inter- 

 vals, to penetrate the sills, will serve the purpose. Then the 

 superstructure can be put on in the usual manner. Ten feet in 

 height of posts and studding is sufficient. If the beams lock on to 

 the plates, and extend a foot beyond them, it will be easier to close 

 up the building tight, than by nailing the beams to the posts below. 

 Lay a double floor overhead with sheathing paper between the 

 boards. The windows should have a northern exposure, and be 

 double in each case. It is better to board up the inner walls, and 



