556 HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



" at frequent intervals, until a temperature of 68°, or lower, has 

 *■'■ been reached. In many factories, the lack of water in warm 

 " weather necessitates the use of ice in cooling the evening's milk. 

 '' It is usually put directly into the milk. Of course, ' necessity 

 *' knows no law ' in such exigencies, but where it is possible to 

 "avoid the use of ice, it had better be done. Its use has never 

 " been claimed as an advantage, and very many of our best cheese- 

 " makers believe that strictly fine cheese cannot be made from milk 

 " thus treated. In some of the Massachusetts cheese factories, 

 " and in an occasional one in New York, and elsewhere, milk is 

 " received but once daily — in the morning. Only in cases where 

 " each patron is provided with an abundance of good, cool water, 

 " proper vessels for keeping the milk in small quantities, and 

 *' exercises unusual care, can this be done with safery. In the 

 *' majority of factories, early and late in the season, milk is re- 

 " ceived in the morning only ; but as the warm nights of May 

 " come on, trouble is experienced, unless this course is changed. 

 " The practice of adding salt to the milk on sultry evenings, is 

 " recommended by some, but its utility has never been demon- 

 " strated. (In cases where the water used in cooling milk is 

 *' deficient in quantity, or possesses too high a temperature, it is 

 *' sometimes necessary to make cheese at night, and again in the 

 " morning. In both cases the animal heat should be removed 

 " from the milk before the rennet is added.) 



" In the morning, the night's milk will be found so cool, that 

 " when the morning's milk is added to the vats, the temperature 

 " of the whole mass will stand at about 65°. 



" Treatment of the Cream. — The cream which rises upon the 

 " night's milk is treated in two ways. It is either stirred thor- 

 " oughly into the milk while cold and before the addition of any 

 " warm milk, or it is carefully skimmed off, diluted with warm 

 *' water, and passed through the strainer into the vat again. In 

 " either case, the loss of cream is small. 



*' Setting the Curd. — Before any thing else is done in the morn- 

 " ing, the exact condition of the milk in each vat should be ascer- 

 " tained. If all is right, — well. If one vat of milk seems 



