MODERN FARRIER. ^ 387 



during every stage of the process, and almost every 

 hour of the day, the most vigilant attention must 

 be kept up throughout the whole season. This is 

 not to be expected from hired servants.' 



55. Preparing Rennet. 



Take a calf's bag, maw, or stomach ; and having 

 taken out the curd contained therein, wash it clean, 

 and salt it thoroughly, inside and out, leaving a 

 white coat of salt over every part of it. Put it into 

 an earthen jar, or other vessel, and let it stand three 

 or four days ; in which time it will have formed the 

 salt, and its own natural juice, into a pickle. Take 

 it out of the jar, and hang it up for two or three 

 days, to let the pickle drain from it ; resalt it ; place 

 it again in a jar ; cover it tight down with a paper, 

 pierced with a large pin ; and in this state let it re- 

 main till it be wanted for use. In this state it 

 ought to be kept twelve months : it may, however, 

 in case of necessity, be used a few days after it has 

 received the second salting ; but it will not be so 

 strong as if kept a longer time. To prepare the 

 rennet for use, take a handful of the leaves of sweet 

 briar, the same quantity of the leaves of the dog- 

 rose, and the like quantity of bramble leaves ; boil 

 them in a gallon of water, with three or four hand- 

 fuls of salt, about a quarter of an hour ; strain off 

 the liquor, and, having let it stand until perfectly 

 cool, put it into an earthen vessel, and add to it the 

 maw prepared as above. To this is added a sound 

 good lemon, stuck round with about a quarter of an 

 ounce of cloves, which give the rennet an agreeable 

 flavour. 



The longer the bag remains in the liquor, the 

 stronger of course will be the rennet. The quan- 

 tity, therefore, requisite to turn a given quantity of 

 milk, can only be ascertained by daily use and 

 observation. 



