CHAP. XXII.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 447 



is usually covered with rushes or vine-leaves, 

 to guard it from being handled, and should be 

 only gently pressed by the hand between linen 

 cloths. It is thus kept in some rather warm 

 situation to sweat and ripen ; for if once 

 chilled by cold, its mellow richness will be 

 irrecoverably lost. The extreme of heat 

 should, however, be equally guarded against, 

 or it will become rank. Some judgment is 

 therefore requisite in bringing it to perfection, 

 and good judges never think it worth eating 

 until it is quite ripe : the time required depends, 

 of course, upon the season ; but, in our opi- 

 nion, should never be less than a fortnight. 



The slip-coat, or as some call it, "new 

 cheese," is formed entirely of new milk, with 

 a small quantity of water added when the 

 rennet, without which the cheese cannot be 

 made, is added- Rennet may always be found 

 ready-made in country oil-shops, and a small 

 quantity will serve the purpose of turning the 

 milk into curd. The whey is then gently 

 poured off, and the curd carefully kept entire 

 until put into a round vat of not more than 

 about an inch deep, where it is very gently 

 pressed for a few hours ; and when removed, 



