FARMERS' REGISTER— ON MAKING CHEESE. 



719 



in at leapt three or four changes of dean fsprinii- 

 waler, a.s coM as it can be found. If the butter is 

 very soft, and the weather hot, it should be allow- 

 ed to lie for ten minule?? or so in the cold water, to 

 harden, before il is much beaten. Dut \vhen that 

 is done, or when the butter is not too soft, it nnist 

 be carclhlly kneaded ^vith askinirniiifj-dish or the 

 liand among the changes of water, till every jjar- 

 ticle of the butter-milk is expelled; after which, 

 and while the butter is still soft, that part of it 

 Avhich is not lo be immediately used ought to he 

 salted, the salt minutely mixed, and the butter 

 carefully packed into vessels or casks, that are air 

 or water tight, and every crevice filled with 

 strong pickle, to exclude air. 



The quantity of salt for butter that is not lo be 

 eaten for several months after salting, should not 

 be less than half an ounce, mixed with two 

 drachms of sugar and two drachms of nitre, to 

 sixteen ounces of butter. The sugar improves 

 the taste, and the nitre gives the butter a better 

 color, while both of them act vv-ith the salt in ))re- 

 eerving the nutter from rancidity. If the salt is 

 not minutely mixed into the butter, that on which 

 it rests will have a yellow or brownish color, while 

 the rest will be of a white color, which, in dairy 

 language, is termed "pyety butter," that brings an 

 inferior price. But although the butter has to be 

 kneaded among the water, and the salt well mixed 

 into it, care must be taken not to bake or knead it 

 too much, otherwise it will become tough and 

 gluey. 



As butler, in its purest state, still contains a por- 

 tion of the milk and serum Irom which it is extract- 

 ed, il should not be much exposed lo the air, from 

 which il soon attains a rancid taste; that, however, 

 may be jiartially removed, by kneading in pure 

 water, mixed with a portion of alcohol, but never 

 entirely remedied. In the county of Aberdeen, 

 butter is formed into a lump, without beingsalted, 

 and remains exposed to the atmosphere (or aweek 

 or longer, till the merchant send round his carl, to 

 collect what he can find in the district; and when 

 convenient, some time after, the whole butler so 

 collected, is trodden with bare feet into one mass, 

 the salt mixed into il, and then packed into firkins. 

 This seems to be a very slovenly way of manag- 

 ing butler, and when treated in that way, it cannot 

 fail to acquire a rancid taste. 



When butler is made from rich Avell-flavored 

 milk or cream, and every thing about the manu- 

 facturing of it properly managed, it has little 

 smell, a mild agreeable taste, and forms a plea- 

 sant and wholesome food. When completely di- 

 vested of impurities, it possesses the properties of 

 oil. Butter begins lo melt at the temperature of 

 96°, when the pure oil floats over the remains of 

 milk or other impurities; and this process of 

 purification requires to be done before it can be 

 carried to a hot climate. 



The qualities and flavor of butter are influenced 

 by the entile from which the milk is drawn, still 

 more by the food which they eat, and, most ol" all, 

 by the manner in which the butter is manufac- 

 tured. Some breeds of cattle, and individual 

 cows of every breed, give richer milk than others. 

 Cows that are too young, or loo old, and those 

 that are unhealthy, or lean, never yield good milk. 

 When fed on old pasture, or when they are fed on 



when stinted in their food. When fed on tur- 

 nips, cabbages, clover, and sown grasses, the 

 cows, if in good habit, give copious draughts of 

 milk; but the l)utler made Irom them is not of so 

 good a quality, as when they are led on old 

 Ihough interior pasture. 



The history of making butter in ancient times 

 is but impcrlectly known. Butler is no doubt 

 mentioned in Scripture; and, in one place, it is 

 said to be brought forth by "churning of milk." 

 But Professor Beckmann and others say, that the 

 Hebrew word translated "6u//cr," should have 

 been rendered jnilk or cream. And surely the 

 bringing "forth butler in a lordly dish," cannot be 

 well made to s.\)\}\y to what we now give that 

 name. From butter not being mentioned by any 

 of the ancient Greek poets, it may be supposed 

 Jhat it was not known lo thai wise and brave peo- 

 ple. The ancient Romans knew nolliing of but- 

 ter, till they were taught by the Germans how to 

 make il; and it was not used as ibod by the Ro- 

 mans, but merely as oil. Herodotus says, that 

 the Scythians fjrrried butter, by shaking or ngi- 

 laling marc's milk; and the poet Anaxandrides 

 says the Thracians ate butter, at which the 

 Greeks were surprised. Dioscoridcs says that 

 good butter was prepared from the Ititlest milk of 

 sheep and goats, by shaking the milk in a vessel, 

 or, more probably, in a leathern bag. And Galen 

 says, the fattest butter was obtained from the milk 

 of cows. When Julius Caesar invaded England, 

 he found that the inhabitants liad abundance of 

 milk, from which they made butter, but could not 

 make cheese, till they were taught that art by 

 their invaders. From that period butter and 

 cheese have been made in Britain; Ihough, till 

 lately, in a slovenly manner. 



On making Cheese. 



? formed chiefly from 

 milk, either with or 



tne caseous 

 without the 



Cheese i: 

 portion of 

 cream. 



Cheese and the curdling of milk are mentioned 

 in the book of Job. Homer mentions cheese as 

 forming part of the ample stores found by Ulysses 

 in the cave of the Cyclop Polyphemus. David 

 was sent bj^ his father Jesse to carry ten cheeses 

 to the camp, and to look how his brethren fared. 

 "Cheese of kine" formed part of the supplies of 

 David's army at Mahanaim, during the rebellion 

 of Absalom. Euripides, Theocritus, and others 

 of the early poels, mention cheese. Ludolphus 

 says that excellent cheese and butter were made 

 by the ancient Ethioj/ians; and Strabo says, (lib. 

 iv'. p. 200,) "some of the ancient Britons were so 

 ignorant, that though they liad abundance of milk, 

 they did not understand the art of making cheese." 

 It must afipear strange, that a people so active as 

 the ancient Romans,' though able to instruct our 

 ancestors to make cheese, did not know how to 

 make or use butler. There is no evidence, how- 

 ever, that any of these ancient nations had dis- 

 covered the use of rennet in making cheese, but 

 seem merely lo have allowed the milk to sour, 

 and to have formed their cheeses fiom the caseous 

 part of the milk, after expelling the serum. As 

 David, when too younLf to carry arms, was able 

 "lo run to the camp" with ten cheeses, ten 



grain or green food during winter, they give rich- J loaves, and an ejihah of parched corn, the cheeses 

 er milk, aiid more copiously after calving, than must have been of very small weight. 



