MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE. 405 



unfailing supply of pure cold spring water. It should be abundant, also, and 

 it:^ temperature should not be above 50^ Fahrenheit, unless the supply is 

 very plentiful, in which case a temperature a trifle warmer may serve a tolerabli- 

 purpose. At one factoiy which I visited on the Western Reserve, in Ohio, the 

 spring had failed; consequently, not having cold water to reduce the tempera- 

 ture of the evening's milk, it was made up both night and morning, thus in- 

 volving night Avork, double labor, and even more, for it required longer cooking ; 

 and not being acquainted with the use of sour whey in milk too sweet, the result 

 wa.s an inferior prodiict. 



The necessary buildings comprise a room for manufacturing, containing the 

 vats, sink, and a press-room adjoining, and a curing-house which is at a short 

 distance from the others, both to be safer from fire and to avoid dampness. The 

 dimensions, where the milk of six hundred cows is used, are usually about twenty- 

 six feet square for the manufacturing- room, and astory and a half high ; press-room 

 thirteen by forty feet, and the curing-house tAventy-six by one hundred feet, and 

 two stories high; all this cheaply built. The cost, with apparatus and fixtures, 

 is usually about $2,500 or 5!3,000. The milk is brought to the factories by the 

 contributors in tin cans of circular foim holding from thirty to eighty gallons ; 

 the covers have a rim or flange six or seven inches wide, closely fitting the inside 

 of the can, with an aperture in the top to allow the escape of air as the cover is 

 pushed down to near the surface of the milk, when it is closed with a cork. This 

 effectually confines the milk, and prevents agitation and splashing in the can-ying. 

 The cans have a faucet at the bottom, through which, when arrived at the fac- 

 tory, the milk passes mto the weighing can set upon a platform balance, from 

 which, when weighed and credited to the producer, it i-uns thi-ough a tube into the 

 vats below. 



In most cheese factories steam is used for Avarmiug the milk and cooking the 

 curd. In some there is merely a steam boiler set in brick work and provided 

 with pipes, while in others there is an engine also, usually from four to eight 

 horse power. The milk as received is conducted into vats of from four hun- 

 dred to six hundred gallons capacity each. These vats are made double, and 

 usually of cheaper construction in proportion to their size than those used in 

 private dairies. The inner one is of tin, and the outer one of wood, with a space 

 between of about two inches. This space is for the reception of water, and is 

 provided with pipes conducting from the boiler, and so arranged that when steam 

 is let on it may be distributed through the water as evenly as possible. 



It is generally supposed to be cheaper thus to use steam than to employ 

 such an apparatus as is most suitable for family use, and very possibly it may 

 be cheaper at the outset, but if Ralph's Oneida vat and heater are employed, 

 tl>e daily expense of fuel Avould be much less, all risk of explosions or other 

 accidents from steam wholly avoided, as well as the loud and very disagree- 

 able noise caused by the steam as it is driven into the water of the outer vats. 



The factory of Mr. Allen, near Rome, New York, is supplied with Ralph's 

 vat.s. There were three of them which I saAv in operation when there the past 

 summer. Their capacities were severally six hundred gallons, five hundred 

 and forty g;illons, and four hundred gallons, which served to make up the 

 milk of four hundred and ninety-six cows. Only one of these vats had the hot- 

 water tank attachment, which was found to suffice for all three. My obser- 

 ratiou of the working of these vats led me to coincide Avith the opinion ex- 

 pressed by Mr. Allen of their superiority over the vats heated by steam. 



The presses commonly in use are of the simplest character, being merely 

 stout iron screws with the necessary wood work. These are found to answer a 

 better purpose here, some one being always at hand to attend to them, 

 fhan in fiimilies, where a pvess is wanted which will follow up the work Avith- 

 out close attention. The sink where the curd is drained and settled is placed 

 convenient to the vats, and is movable, being on rollers and placed on a track 



