178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



but remember that no cheese maker who understands his business 

 wants to see a drop of milk before half-past six, and also the scien- 

 tific fact that it is not best to coagulate milk too soon after the time 

 of milking, the}' would readil}- find that interval for cooling which 

 so man_y profess to be baffled in their search after. 



The second class of points is included in proper manipulation. 



They constantly arise before the maker in the daily round of work. 



In reference to them the farmer must depend altogether upon his 



knowledge and judgment. Not till the cheese is tested by the bu}'- 



• ers can it be known whether the}' have been rightly attended to. 



On passing from the milk to the maker, the propi-ietj' of the 

 figure of the links appears ver}' forcibly. As the links of the 

 •chain are forged, one within the other, so the maker's first point of 

 vital consequence stretches right back on to, and through, the milk- 

 men, for he becomes the inspector of all their work. The acute 

 •discernment of differences in the milk must be in his possession, 

 or he is altogether afloat. "When a maker commonly speaks of his 

 " luck " from time to time, or is very much ''surprised" by the 

 working of his curds, he is at guess work ; and his patrons will have 

 a chance at the same before the}' are through. The proper standard 

 of requirement is that milk, at the window, shall be cool, clean, 

 right flavored, and with no perceptible approach of the acid state. 



A particular word hert is timeh- for makers. If you are strivins 

 for excellence on these points, and are charged with too much par- 

 rticularit}' and fussiness ; if the corporation or employer does not 

 full}' sustain every effort to maintain the standard, just take off 3'our 

 hat, bid them all good morning, and leave. You can get no fair 

 treatment nor build up your reputation with such. They who 

 scout 3'Our requirements will be the first to cudgel you in the fall if 

 they, in particular, cannot have the best cheese. 



The test for coolness is the hand on the can ; if it teels blood heat 

 or nearly that reject at once. There is no occasion even to open it. 

 The test of cleanliness comes through the nostrils. Whether the 

 difficulty may have arisen from yesterday's whey in the can, or the 

 •dirty dish cloth, or the rinsing of the cow's foot or tail in the milk, 

 the delicate sense of smell will reveal the true source of the evil 

 •with unerring exactness. With some persons there is a deficiencj' 

 in the acuteness of this sense, and if so they are not competeni to 

 take charge of a factory. This same sense detects the presence or 

 absence of the right flavors, and will snuff up the approach of the 



