290 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



drop from the pail, and to prevent dirt from fallinnj in- 

 to the tub. Above this and upon the ladder is placed 

 the sieve, through which the milk is strained. Il 

 the milk ehould not be of the temperature of 85°, 

 a portion of it is put into a deep tin, kept lor the 

 purpose, and placed in a furnace of hot water in 

 the wash-house, by which the whole is warmed 

 to a proper degree. It is of the utmost moment to 

 attend to this ; for if the mi k is not warm enough 

 when the rennet is put into it, the cheese will be 

 *' tender," and will bulge out in the edge, which 

 spoils its appearance, and a great quantity of se^di- 

 ment of small curd will be found in the whey 

 leads, which is so much curd lost. If, on the other 

 hand, the milk is too warm, it will cause the cheese 

 to " heave" or ferment, which injures both its ap- 

 pearance and quality. 



When the milk is sufficiently warm, the color- 

 ing and the rennet are put into it. The coloring 

 or analto is put in by rubbing a cake of it on a 

 plate amongst the milk until, Irom its appearance, 

 it seems colored enough. One pound of anatto, 

 at five shillings, is sufficient for half a ton of cheese. 



The rennet being added immediately after the 

 anatto is put in, the tub is covfred with a woollen 

 cloth for, at least, an hour. Rennet or runnet is 

 made from the stomachs of calves, called here 

 " veils." Irish veils are the best : they are cured, 

 and sent to England, and sold by the grocers to 

 the dairy- farmeis. Mrs. Ilayward never uses 

 them till they are twelve months old, for, if they 

 are not old, the rennet made from them causes the 

 cheese to " heave," and to become full of "eyes" 

 or holes. She prepares the rennet from them by 

 adding to every six veils two gallons of brine and 

 two lemons. The lemons do away with any disa- 

 greeable smell, and give the rennet sweetness and 

 agreeable flavor. Twenty or thirty gallons of it 

 are made at a time, as it is found to" be much bet- 

 ter, when made in large quantities. It sliould 

 never be used, till it has stood for, at least, two 

 months. 



When the curd is sufficiently firm for breaking, 

 it is gently and slowly cut with a three-bladed 

 knife, down to the bottom of the tub, (the knife 

 being about fourteen inches long,) both ways or at 

 right angles, and around the sides oflhe tub. The 

 cuts should be about an inch apart. When it has 

 stood five or ten minutes to allow it to sink a litile, 

 and the whey to come out as clear as possible, 

 some of the whey is dipped out of it with the 

 bowl, and the curd is cut a second time with the 

 three-bladed knife — very slowly to begin with ; 

 for, if the cutting is done hurriedly, a great sedi- 

 rnent of very small curd will pass through ihe 

 sieve and be found in the whey leads, am? there 

 will also be an increase of the quantity of whey 

 butter which should have been in the cheese, and 

 the value of the butler, thus obtained, will not 

 competisate for the waste of curd, and lor the loss 

 of credit which the cheese will sustain li-om the 

 abstraction of butter from it. The cutting being, 

 therefore, performed very slowly at first, and wiili 

 the strokes of the knife at a considerable distance 

 from each other, is gradually quickened, and the 

 strokes are taken nearer and nearer every time. 

 At last, one hand, with the skimming dish, keeps 

 the whole in motion, turning up the lumps sus- 

 pended in the whey, while the other, with the 

 knife, is in constant motion, cutting them as small 

 as possible—and this operation is conlinued till no ! 



more lumps are brought to the surface, and the 

 whole mass is reduced to one degree of fineness. 

 Thi:^ process may occupy a quarter of an hour. 



The curd is now allowed to stand a quarter of 

 an hour, and being, thus, snfficienily settled, the 

 whey is taken from it with the bowl, and poured 

 through a very fine hair sieve, placed over the, 

 whey leads. When the greitesi part ot'the whey 

 \\HS been separated from it, the dairy-maid, (biding 

 over a portion oi" it, and beginning at one corner, 

 goes around the tub, cutting the curd into lumps, 

 and laying them on the principal mass, by which 

 operation the mass is carried all around the tub, 

 and most of the remaining whey escapes between 

 the cut fragments, as they lie and press upon each 

 other. From time to time the whey is taken from 

 the tub, and put through the seive into the whey 

 leads. 



The curd is then put into vats, and pressed 

 down with the hand. Tlio vats, bemg covereil 

 with cheese-cloths, about one yard and a quarter 

 long, of fine canvass, are placed in the press lor 

 half an hour, when they are taken out and the 

 curd cut into slices, and put into a mill fixed on the 

 top of the tub, which tears it into very small 

 crumbs, as small as vetches. This mill, which is 

 of Mr. Ilayvvard's construction, is a great im- 

 provement in the making of cheese, not only as it 

 saves the dairy-maid the most laborious part of* 

 the process, that of squeezing and rubbing the curd 

 into small crumbs with her hands, but as it allows 

 the fat to remain in the cheese, which the hands 

 squeeze out. 



In its pulverized state, it is customary with most 

 dairy-maids to scald the curd with hot whey ; but 

 Mrs. Hayward considers cheese richer, when 

 made wiihout scalding the broken curd, ihis wash- 

 ing the fat out of it. She, therelbre, without scald- 

 ing it puts it into the vats, and presses it closely 

 together with the hand, in filling them. In making 

 double Gloucester cheeses, particular care is taken 

 to press any remaining whey from the curd as the 

 vats are being filled, and they are filled as com- 

 pactly as can be done with the hand, being round- 

 ed up in the middle, but just so much so, as that 

 the whole can be pressed into tJie vat. Cheese- 

 cloths are then spread over the vats, and a little 

 hot water is thrown over the cheese-cloths, which 

 tends to harden the outside of the cheese and pre- 

 vent il from cracking. The curd is now turned 

 out of the vats into the cloths, and the vats being 

 dipped into the whey to wash away any crumbs 

 of" curd that may cling to them, the curd, inverted 

 and with the cloth around it, is again put into them. 

 The cloths are then folded over and tucked in, and 

 the vats, as they are filled, are put into the press 

 one upon another. The bottoms of the vats are 

 smooth and a little rounded, so as to answer the 

 purpose of cheese- boards, which, therefore, arc 

 only wanted for the uppermost vats, or when the 

 other vats are not quite full. The vats are allowed 

 to remain under the press about two hours, when 

 they are taken out and dry cloths are applied, 

 which with doubleGlouccstercheeseshould be re- 

 peated some time in the day. 



Sailing and salting-presses. — The vats, when 

 the clean cloths are given, as just mentioned, are 

 changed from the single press to the one next to it, 

 and placed in it, one upon another, as before. 

 They remain in this press till the cheeses are salt- 

 ed, when those made in the evening take the 



