4?0 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXVII. 



out of the vat into the cloth, and the inside of the vat being washed in 

 whey, the inverted curd, with the cloth around it, is again returned to 

 it ; the cloth is then folded over, and the vat put into the press, where 

 it remains about two hours, after which it is taken out and dry cloths 

 applied, which should be repeated in the course of the day ; it is then 

 replaced in the press until the cheese is salted, which is generally 

 done within twenty-four hours after it is made. 



The salting is performed by rubbing the entire of the cheese with 

 finely powdered salt; for if the curd be salted before being put into the 

 vat, its particles do not intimately unite, and although it may become a 

 good cheese, it is loose and crumbly, and never becomes a smooth, close 

 solid mass, like that which is salted after it has been made : but this is 

 never done until the skin is closed, for if there be any crack in it at that 

 time it will not afterwards close. The cheese is after this returned to 

 the vat and put under the press, in which more cheeses than one are 

 placed together, care being always taken to put the newest lowest in 

 the press, and the oldest uppermost. The salting is repeated three 

 times, the cloths being removed after the second in order to efface 

 their marks, and twenty-four hours are allowed to intervene between 

 each ; thus the cheese is within five days taken from the press to the 

 cheese-room ; though in damp weather it should remain somewhat 

 longer. There it is turned every day for a month, when it is ready 

 for cleaning, which is done by scraping with a common knife, the 

 dairy-maid sitting on the floor, and taking the cheese in her lap to 

 perform the operation. When it has been cleared from all scurf, it is 

 rubbed all over with a woollen cloth dipped in paint made of Indian 

 red, or Spanish brown, and small beer ; and as soon as the state of 

 the paint will permit, the edge of the cheese, and about an inch on 

 each side, are rubbed hard with a cloth every week. The quantity of 

 salt is generally about 3^ lbs. per cwt., and one pound of annatto is 

 sufficient for half a ton of cheese*. 

 The true characteristics of the double-Gloucester consist in its great rich- 

 ness, together with the mildness of its flavour, and that waxy texture which 

 makes it cut, even in thin slices, without crumbling ; while its oily matter 

 is retained in toasting, by merely softening itself without being burned ; 

 and its sure sign of goodness is said to be the " blue coat " which appears 

 through the paint on its sides. The single- Gloucester, or toasting-cheese f^ 

 differs in no manner from the making of the double sort, except in being- 

 thinner — the weight of each seldom exceeding 12 lbs., while the double 

 sort is generally about 22 lbs. — and somewhat less salted ; it is also pressed 

 only four days instead of five. It is, however, not unfrequently made less 

 rich, by being partially mixed with skimmed milk. 



CHEDDAR AND WILTSHIRE CHEESE. 



The Cheddar cheese, though made in the rich midland district of Somer- 

 setshire, yet so nearly resembles that of the double-Gloucester that it was 

 formerly passed off in the London market under that name : it may, there- 

 fore, be supposed that the process of making must be nearly the same ; but 

 it has lately acquired such high repute that it now bears an equal price in 

 its own character. 



* See note at page 425. 



t Toasting-cheese is by some persons occasionally made, by adding the yolks of four 

 or five ejrgs to every pound of the curd with which they are mixed; and these " egg- 

 cheeses " are celebrated in the north of England. 



