246 THE AMERICAN FARMER 



is then poured through a proper sieve into the tub into which the morning s milk is being 

 also stirred as it arrives so as to raise the whole, as I have said, to from 78 to 82 degrees 

 Fahr. This tub may be a large tin vessel, capable of holding 150 gallons, and provided with 

 false bottom and sides, enabling hot or cold water to be passed under and around its contents. 



The rennet, made from two or three dozen veils, in as many quarts of salt water, and 

 allowed to stand three weeks, is added half a pint to 100 gallons and the curd sets in 

 about half an hour. The small veils (rennets) of calves, which are killed at about a 

 week old, are preferred, and they should be eighteen months old before use. The curd is 

 slowly cut with a single long blade to and fro throughout its depth, in lines forming a 4-inch 

 mesh upon the surface, and the whole mass is gently turned over from the bottom with a 

 skimming dish in the hand. 



The whole is then again worked throughout with a &quot; shovel-breaker,&quot; a four-fingered 

 paddle with wires across the fingers great care being taken to do it gently, so that the whey 

 shall not become too white. The curd is thus broken up into pieces not much larger 

 than peas, and at least half an hour is taken in the process. Hot water is then let into the 

 space around and below the cheese tub, and the whole is raised to 100 deg. Fahr.; and this, 

 too, is done gradually, so as to raise the whole by degrees, not heating any portion to excess. 

 This also takes half an hour. The hot water is then drawn off, and the curd is stirred by 

 the hand and a skimming dish for another half hour in the midst of its hot whey, being at 

 last reduced to a mass of separate bits the size of small peas. The whey, after settling for 

 half an hour, is then removed ladled, syphoned, or drawn to its vat, where it stands about 

 six inches deep, and is skimmed next day, yielding a butter which should not exceed in quan 

 tity six to eight ounces per cow per week. 



The curd stands half an hour after the whey is drawn off, and it is then cut in four or 

 five pieces, turned over and left for half an hour, after which it is again cut and left 

 for a quarter of an hour. After this, it should be in the slightest degree acid to the taste. 

 If allowed to become too acid, it will not press into a solid, well-shaped cheese, but will be 

 apt to sink broad and be misshapen. It is now torn into pieces by hand and left to cool; and 

 thereafter it is packed in successive thin layers in the vat a cylindrical or wooden vessel twelve 

 inches or more wide and twelve inches deep whence, after being pressed for half an hour, 

 it is taken out (it is then probably midday), and broken up by hand, and allowed again to 

 cool. Then, when cool, hard, sour, dry, and tough enough (all this, of course, being left to 

 the judgment of the maker), it is ground up in the curd mill; two pounds of salt are added 

 to the cwt. of curd, and the whole is allowed to cool, and as soon as cold, it is put in the vat 

 and taken to press. It is then probably 3 p. M. The pressure on the cheese may be 18 cwt. 

 The cloth is changed next morning. 



A calico coating is laced on it the second day, and the third day the cheese may be taken 

 from the press, placed in the cheese room, bandaged, and turned daily, afterwards less fre 

 quently. The cheese room should be kept at nearly 65 degrees Fahr. The cheese will not be 

 ready for sale for three months. The process of making Cheddar cheese lasts all day, and the 

 cheeses are made of various sizes, generally twelve inches wide and a foot high, but some 

 times larger in both dimensions, and from 70 to 100 pounds in weight; the object being to 

 make all the milk of one day on a farm of thirty to forty cows into a single cheese. 



Single Gloucester Cheese. There is no heating process in the making of this 

 cheese, the rennet being added to the milk as soon as it is deposited in the tub or vat. As 

 soon as the curd is set, it is broken up with a wire breaker, by moving it up and down, which 

 has a tendency to make it into a kind of pulp. The mass is then left to settle and attain a 

 proper degree of firmness, when the whey is dipped off; the curd is then cut across and put 

 to press. It is taken out of press in the morning, turned, and salted on the outside. It is 

 returned to the press, and taken out and treated in the same manner for five or six successive 



