BRITISH DAIRYING. 



One of the most intelligent Cheddar-cheese makers I have 

 met, a Canadian, found his autumn cheese wanting in flavour 

 and mellowness ; he took to ripening the evening's milk, which 

 had been too cold, by heating to 84 for a few hours before 

 it was made into cheese. This ripening at a high tempera- 

 ture restored condition to the milk, and his cheese in the 

 fall of the year had the mellow ripeness of the cheese of the 

 summer. In this way is warmth harnessed to the service of 



the Cheddar expert, who thus pro- 

 longs his summer into the winter, 

 so far as his cheese is concerned. 



The " nursing " of the curd, after 

 the whey has been removed, is one 

 of the crucial points of the system ; 

 for the moisture retained, the ripen- 

 ing, the flavour, the texture of the 

 cheese depend a great deal upon it. 

 The curd is cut into lumps, kept 

 warm, turned frequently, noticed 

 carefully, and at the right time is 

 passed through the mill and salted. 

 Too much acidity will make a dry 

 cheese; too little, a wet one; the 

 happy mean encourages ripening, 

 develops flavour, and secures the 

 proper degree of mellowness in tex- 

 ture. Some Lancashire cheese- 

 makers obtain acidity from a portion of yesterday's unsalted 

 curd; the Derbyshire by leaving the cheese unsalted for a day, 

 and then salting the outside ; the Stilton by leaving the curd 

 exposed whilst the whey drains from it. 



Of these three courses, the first is the best. Cheese must 

 get its ferment somehow, or it will go wrong. Salt a 5 - fresh 

 curd, which has had no chance of becoming acid, and it is not 

 easy to predict what the cheese will do: it may become "sweet" 

 or bitter, it may swell and burst, and break out into running 

 sores ; or it may dry up, and become hard, " crummy," tex- 



FIG. 20. DOUBLE-CHAMBER 

 CHEESE PRESS. 



