562 HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



is, that the caseine of milk, (that is its cheesy part,) is held 

 in solution in the hquid only in the presence of an alkali there ex- 

 isting. Any acid that will neutralize this alkali, deprives it of 

 the power of causing the solution of the caseine, which is there- 

 upon rejected by the water and forms the curd. All acids produce 

 this effect, although many of them, of course, are, for various 

 reasons, not suited to the requirements of cheese-making. Milk 

 is curdled by the action of the lactic acid that forms in the natural 

 process of its souring. Flint states that in some of the northern 

 countries of Europe a little butterwort [Singuicula vulgaris) is 

 sometimes mixed with the cow's food, causing the milk to coagu- 

 late without the addition of an acid within a few hours after being 

 drawn. In the almost universal dairy practice of the world, ren- 

 net (the prepared stomach of the calf) is used to produce coag- 

 ulation. 



The richness of cheese depends very much upon the quantity 

 of cream that it contains, but not a little, also, on the mode of 

 manufacture. Sometimes the cream of the night's milk is added 

 to the morning's milk, and the latter made into cheese ; sometimes 

 the whole milk of each milking is curdled ; sometimes only skim- 

 milk or buttermilk is used, producing a cheese which, although 

 lacking in richness, and somewhat also in flavor, is a highly nu- 

 tritious food. As an instance of the effect of the mode of manu- 

 facture upon the cheese-dairy, it may be stated that the very pop- 

 ular Gruyere cheese (Schweitzer-kaese) which seems to be rich 

 and is certainly very high flavored, is made from skim-milk. 



Mr. Flint quotes the following from a report made to the New 

 York State Agricultural Society, by A. L. Fish, of Herkimer 

 County, whose cows averaged 775 pounds of cheese each in the 

 year 1845. It is a simple statement of the practical operations 

 of a successful dairyman. 



" The evening's and morning's milk is commonly used to make 

 *' one cheese. The evening's is strained into a tub or pans, and 

 " cooled to prevent souring. The proper mode of cooling is to 

 " strain the milk into the tin tub set in a wooden vat, described in 

 " the dairy house, and cool by filling the wooden vat with ice- 



