THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



451 



sliced iu pieces, the oulsidu pieces piled on the middld, 

 and tlieu agaiu returned to the press. This process may 

 be repeated two or three times, and it will then be suffi- 

 ciently dry to be ground. A handful of fine salt should be 

 spread evenly over the flat surface of the cheese, and it 

 should then be cut in pieces and passed through the grinder; 

 by this means the salt is regularly mixed with the curd. 

 It is much better, in the summer months, to add salt at 

 this stage of the cheese-making. It renders it much more 

 certain of being cured ; for if any fcrmcntatiou takes place 

 before the cheese is salted, as it is very liable to do in warm 

 weather, the cheese will never afterwards take the salt. I 

 believe, in Cheshire, the cheese is entirely «alted at this 

 stage. I am decidedly of opinion that it^is right to grind 

 the curd ; it regularly breaks it in pieces without bruising 

 it, and does it much better, and is much less labour than 

 breaking it with the hands. 



If the curd is much crushed and broken with the hands, 

 a considerable quantity of butter passes into the whey; 

 there is a great saving in this respect by the substitution 

 of the knife and the curd-grinder for the hands. It ought 

 to be the aim of the cheese-maker to retain as much as 

 Ijossible of the butter in the cheese. 



The best kind of curd-grinder is made to fasten on the 

 top of the cheese-kettle. A pan, within which a cheese- 

 cloth is spread, should be put under the grinder, and the 

 curd ground into it ; the cheese-cloth should then be lifted 

 into the vat, and a galvanized iron hoop, made for the i^ur- 

 pose, placed round it ; it should then be returned to the 

 press, and the pressure gradually applied. In a short time 

 it is taken out of press, and about two inches round the 

 top edge of the cheese is pared oflf, placed on the middle, 

 and broken into small pieces; the middle of the cheese is 

 also broken a little, and it is then returned to the press. 

 This process should be repeated with the uuder-surface of 

 the cheese, and the cloth round it replaced by a dry one. 

 It should then be put under the lever press, and be allowed 

 to remain there six or eight hours. The cheese may, by the 

 process I have described, be finished up to this point in 

 three hours-and-a-half after the milk is put in the kettle. 

 After the cheese has remained iu the press the time stated, 

 the cloth round it should be replaced by a dry one ; this 

 change may be repeated once or twice before the cheese is 

 salted. The cheese-cloths which are used at this stage 

 should be well washed with hot water, and dried after each 

 time of using, as they are intended to absorb the moisture 

 from the cheese; 



The cheese should be salted about twelve hours after it 

 is made. The cheese made in the morning should be 

 salted at night, and the evening's cheese as soon as con- 



venient the following morning. Before this is done, it is a 

 general practice to scald the cheese, by putting it into a tub 

 of hottish water, and letting it remain in it till the water is 

 cold. This plan may be of service in the spring and 

 autumn, when the cheese is most liable to crack, but it 

 extracts some of the fat from the outside of the cheese, and 

 the salt does not penetrate so well when the surface has 

 been hardened, therefore I do not recommend it for general 

 practice. 



I will now describe the salting process. The cheese is 

 turned out of the vat on a table, and a thin layer of salt is 

 spread on each side and round the edges of the cheese. 

 This is repeated night and morning for about three days, 

 the cheese advancing a stage further in the press at each 

 time of salting. The cheese should be put quite straight 

 under the presses, or they will not press level. In the last 

 press, little or no salt should be applied, or the surface of 

 the cheese will be left rough and uneven. The cheese 

 made at the spring and latter end of the year is often too 

 salt. Cheese, like meat, takes the salt much more readily 

 in cold weather, and therefore does not then require to 

 remain in salt so long ; but though a less quantity of cheese 

 is then made, the presses are often kept full, and thus the 

 cheese remains in salt a longer tilne than it does in summer. 



When the cheeses have gone through the last press, 

 tliey are immersed for two days in shallow cisterns filled 

 with brine ; they are then washed with warm water, and 

 wiped dry, and taken into the cheese-room. They are 

 generally put on shelves for the first week or two ; they 

 should be kept single lor the first two months, and turned 

 regularly every day. When they are nearly lipe they are 

 better put two or three deep. 



If the cheese is kept warm, it will be ready for sale in 

 three or four months after it is made. It is better to sell 

 it two or three times in the year ; it loses weight very con- 

 siderably if it is long kept, and the enhanced price rarely 

 pays for the great loss of weight. The cheese made in the 

 spring months should be ready for sale in August, when 

 there is generally a brisk demand for new cheese. 



It is a practice with many to rub and scrape ofi the na- 

 tural coat of the cheese, but if the cheese is properly made 

 (, without being robbed of any of its butter), and is always 

 kept warm, it requires little or no cleaning, and shows to 

 most advantage with its natural coat. 



I have now described that method of cheese-making 

 which I consider to be the most practical and scientific. I 

 have advocated no theories that have not been tried and 

 found to be successful, and I have no doubt, if the plan I 

 recommend be properly carried out, it will be found to 

 ensure success. A Dairy Faemee. 



THE NEW YORK CATTLE TRADE. 



One of the reasons, in fact it may be said to be the only 

 reason why the price of meat is so high, is the scarcity of 

 store cattle. The supply is scanty, and the demand active, 

 and farmers paying a high price for feeding cattle must 

 necessarily receive a high price for fat cattle. What is 

 wanted is a more full supply of lean beasts, and as that can- 

 not be provided from within the kingdom, it must be sought 

 for without. But a difficulty presents itself: there is no 

 other obstacle in the way of cattle importaliou but the risk 

 of the voyage ; and if cattle are to be had cheaper else- 



where, they would find their way to our markets, in confor. 

 mity to a well-known economic law, It would, therefore, 

 seem to follow, that at the present time we have the full 

 benefit of the supply of the lean cattle of the Continent, in 

 addition to what we produce ourselves, and that, in fact, 

 all has been done that can be done, and the price of meat 

 will be maintained. But it must be admitted that cattle 

 are not received from some continental ports — for example, 

 from the Spanish ports — because the risk of transport 

 leaves no room for profit. The cattle exist in abundance, 



