400 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



by tlic introduction of cold water into the outor vat, or by placing in ifr tm 

 coolers lillcd with ice and wat(T. The temperature should not be allowed to 

 go much below G0°, a." the product would be diminished by too great cold. 

 Stirring the milk during the cooling process serves to prevent the rise of 

 cream to the surface during the night. If kept .at this temperature, viz., 65', 

 it will be in the best condition for use tJie next morning without the addition 

 of sour whey. About twelve hours later the morning's milk is added. If any 

 cream has risen, it is carefully incorporated with the mass of milk. If the milk 

 has been kept below 62° during the night, sour wliey of the day before is 

 added in the proportion of three to six quarts to the hundred gallons, accord- 

 ing to the sweetness of the milk. If kept at 64' or above, none is required, 

 and its addition would do harm rather than good. A fire is then started in the 

 heater by means of a feAV chips. Witli a well-constructed apparatus like tlic 

 Oneida vat but little fuel is required, and the whole mass of milk is thus uni- 

 formly elevated in temperature until it reaches 88'. Rennet is then added and 

 thoroughly mixed in. The vat being graduated on the inner side, the number 

 of gallons is readily observed. The strength of the rennet having been asoer- 

 taiucd by previous trials, just enough is incorporated into the milk to curdle it 

 in forty to fifty minutes. Herkimer county dairymen prefer to have the curd 

 properly formed in forty to forty-five minutes. Somersetshire dairymen, in 

 i]ngland, prefer to have a whole hour occujiied in the coagulation. 



If set at too low a temperature, the, flavor of the product is injuriously 

 affected, the process of coagulation is slower, the curd is too soft, and the whey 

 is separated with more difficulty, and apt to be turbid, involving a loss of both 

 butter and casein, and reducing the product in both quantity and quality. If 

 the milk be too warm, coagulation is too rapid and adhesive, and the product 

 rendered tough and hard. With the rennet is also added a very small quan- 

 tity of a preparation of annatto, made by dissolving the best quality which can 

 be obtained in a weak solution of potash. The English liquid annatto, which 

 is prepared by Nichols, and also by Clements, and sold in large cities, is much 

 preferable to the crude article usually sold in shops, but is more costly, tlie 

 retail price being five shillings sterling per quart bottle. The expense is not 

 great, however, as four or five cents' worth is sufficient for a hundred pounds 

 of cheese. Enough only should be added to produce a light straw or cream 

 color. The rennet and coloring having been well incorporated, the vat is 

 covered with a cloth, and left undisturbed until the curd is formed. If 

 the process be properly conducted, therefore, the curd will be found in 

 about three-quarters of an hour to be sufficiently firm to cut, not tough, 

 but splitting apart readily when a portion is lifted on the finger. It is 

 now to be cut, in order to allow the whey to subside and collect by itself clear 

 and free from the butter and curd. The coagulum, Avhen first formed, is an 

 exceedingly tender and delicate substance, and the butter is held with the cuixl 

 by a very frail tenure. It is the casein .alone which is afi'ectcd by the action 

 of the rennet, the latter having no effect on the oily globules which are .at this 

 stage merely imbedded mechanically in the curd. If it be roughly or carelessly 

 crushed, there is sure to be a loss of more or less of the oily or buttery por- 

 tion, .and of the curd .also, escaping as " white whey." Many contriv.ances for 

 cutting have been employed, among which are wooden knives ; wire sieves, 

 •with coarse meshes ; cutters made of thin strips of metal crossing each other at 

 right angles, to be thrust downwards ; shovel breakers ; revolving breakers, &c. 

 The best instrument I have seen i« known .as "Young's d.airy knife," consist- 

 ing of a gang of four or more very thin, smooth, two-edged steel blades about 

 fifteen inches long, thus h.aving ten or fifteen feet of cutting edge to each knife. 

 By passing this knife through the curd, first lengthwise and then crosswise of 

 the vat, it is very smoothly cut into perpendicular columns, without .any tear- 

 ing, crushing, or squeezing, and the whey escapes clearer and more free ft-om 



