148 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



in the stomach with a large quantity of the best salt. Some add a little 

 alum and sal prunella ; others put various herbs and spices, with a view 

 of giving the cheese a peculiar flavor ; but the plain simple salting is 

 sufficient. The skins or veils, as they are called, are then put into a pan, 

 and covered with a saturated solution of salt, in which they are soaked 

 for some hours ; but there must be no more liquor than will well mois- 

 ten the veils. They are afterward hung up to dry, a piece of flat wood 

 being put crosswise into each to stretch them out. They should be 

 perfectly dried and look like parchment. In this state they may be kept 

 in a dry place for any length of time, and are always ready for use. In 

 some places, at the time of making cheese, a piece of veil is cut off, 

 and soaked for some hours in water or whey, and the whole is added to 

 the warm milk. In other places, pieces of veil are put into a linen bag, 

 and soaked in warm water, until the water has acquired sufficient 

 strength, which is proved by trying a portion of it in warm milk. The 

 method employed in Switzerland is as follows : — a dry veil is taken 

 and examined ; it is scraped with a knife, and where any veins or pieces 

 of tough membrane appear, they are removed. The whole surface is 

 examined and washed carefully, if any dust or dirt has adhered to it; 

 but otherwise it is only wiped with a cloth. A handful of salt is then 

 put into it, and the edges of the veil are folded over and secured with a 

 wooden skewer stuck through it. In this state it forms a ball of about 

 three inches diameter, and is laid to soak twenty-four hours in a dish 

 containing about a quart of clear whe}^, which has been boiled, and all 

 the curd taken out. The next day the veil is well squeezed, and put 

 into fresh whey; the first infusion being put into a proper vessel, the 

 second is afterward mixed with it, and bottled for use. Ilalf a pint of 

 this liquor, of a proper strength, is sufficient to curdle forty gallons of 

 milk. Experience alone enables the dairyman to judge of the strength 

 of his rennet ; for this purpose he takes in a flat ladle some milk which 

 Las been heated to about ninety-five degrees of Fahr., and adds a small 

 measure of rennet. By the rapidity with which it curdles, and by the 

 form of the flakes produced, he knows its exact strength, and puts more 

 or less into the caldron in which the milk is heated for curdling. 



There are different kinds of cheese, according to the mode of pre- 

 paring it : soft and rich cheeses are not intended to be kept long ; hard 

 and dry cheeses are adapted to be kept and stored for provisions. Of 

 the first kind are all cream cheeses, and those soft cheeses, called Bath 

 cheeses and Yorkshire cheeses, which are sold as soon as made, and if 

 kept too long become soft and putrid. Stilton and Gruyere cheeses are 

 intermediate; Parmesan, Dutch, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, and similar 

 cheeses, are intended for longer keeping. The poorer the cheese is, the 

 longer it will keep ; and all cheese that is well cleared from whey, and 

 sufficiently salted, will keep for years. The small Dutch cheeses, called 

 Edam cheeses, are admirably adapted for keeping, and form an important 

 article in the victualing of ships. 



The Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses only differ in the nature of the 

 milk, and in the degree of heat given to the curd in different parts of 

 the process. Gruyere cheese is entirely made from new milk, and Par- 

 mesan from skimmed milk. In the first nothing is added to give flavor : 



