CHEESE. 403 



given, as the reader will observe by inspecting the tables given 

 below, in consequence of the variety in the weights used, very 

 easy or obvious. My reader will however, I hope, find that the 

 method, which has been adopted in this and some other cases, 

 of tabulating the principal weights which are employed in 

 measuring this produce, will be sufficiently suggestive, at least 

 in the decennial averages. 



The manufacture of cheese generally commenced at Christ- 

 mas and was continued till Michaelmas. Two cows, according 

 to Walter de Henley's calculation, would produce a wey of 

 cheese within this time, besides half a gallon of butter each 

 week. It appears, then, that the cheese was made either of 

 skimmed milk, or at least that a portion of the butter was 

 abstracted. If the pasture was lighter, as in a wood or in 

 meadows after mowing, or in the stubble, (en preez apres 

 fauchtsons ou en estuble^) three cows were needed for the same 

 amount of produce. The same author, reckoning that a cow 

 will produce ^^.-worth of cheese and one-third of a pottle 

 of butter weekly, estimates the gross annual return from the 

 animal at 95-., and strongly advises that cows should, if possible, 

 be kept. 



Ewe milk, though less rarely taken and manipulated, was, 

 however, occasionally employed for the same purpose. The 

 writer quoted above seems to reckon ten ewes as equal in 

 productiveness to one cow. It is possible, when ewe milk 

 was used, that it was mixed with that of the cow. Goats' 

 milk was very rarely, if ever, employed, goats having been 

 very seldom kept in England, or even in South Wales. 



Rennet (coagula) was used for manufacturing cheese, and 

 though generally supplied from the produce of the farm, was 

 occasionally purchased. (Vol. ii. pp. 567. iii., 572. ii.) The cheese 

 was pressed through cloths in a vat. (Vol. ii. pp. 568. iv., 575. i.) 

 The information supplied as to the cloths used for the manu- 

 facture of cheese is copious. It will be found in the table 

 of the price of canvas for mill sails, &c., and will be com- 

 mented on below. The sale of the cheese thus manufactured 



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