course only used for drying. These offices wee 

 all on tlie ground-floor. In some cases the 

 clieese-room ia over the dairy, in others over the 

 kitclien, or some other room wherein a fire is 

 usually kept, and sometimes, though rarely, over 

 the cow-houses or sialics. Light and air are in- 

 variably excluded, either by a curtain or shut- 

 ters.* Tiie floor is either of iilastcr (gypsum) or 

 boards, but more commonly the latter ; some of 

 the larger cheese-rooms are warmed by stoves, 

 or hot air. and occasionally, though rarely, by 

 fire-places in the room itself. The .small cheese- 

 rooms are seldom supplied with artificial heat, 

 except what is gained from the rooms below. — 

 Some cheese-rooms are occasionally found to be 

 in the .summer time too warm, in which case the 

 cheese has to be removed for a time to a cooler 

 part of the house. This is more generally neces- 

 sary where the building is slated, and exposed 

 to the noon-day sun ; but is seldom or never ex- 

 perienced where the roof is of thatch. The 

 size of these offices is of course regulated by the 

 extent of the farm ; where 30 cows are kept I 

 find them nearly as follows : 



Yds. Yds. Sq.Yds. 



Milk-house 6 by 3 or about 18 



Dairy 6 by 5 " 30 



Salting and drying-hou.se. 4 by 5 " 20 



Cheese-room over daiiy 



and drying-house 10 by 5 (or 8 by 6) " 50 



The utensils, excepting those I have de- 

 scribed, will be noticed hereafter. 



Process of Cheese-makisg. — As the first 

 process — namely, that of extracting the whey 

 and salting — occupies, according to circum- 

 stances, from five to seven hours, it is found 

 most convenient to commence it in the morning. 

 This being the case, the evening's milk has to 

 be kept all night in the milk-house. In the 

 morning, the cream having been skimmed off, a 

 portion of this milk is warmed. This is done in 

 a circular flat-bottomed brass or tin pan. (see a, 

 fig. 4,) floated in the boiler, the water of which 

 has been previously heated for that purpose : 

 the size of this pan is about 20 inches in diame- 

 ter and 8 inclies deep. The (juantity to be 

 warmed depends upon the state of the weather ; 

 for the first two or three months of the season 

 (say March, April and May) it is not unusual to 

 heat as much as lialf the evening's milk to a 

 temperature of 100^ Fahrenheit, and this heat is 

 rarely exceeded, excepting by those dairymaids 

 who wish to save themselves trouble in the after 

 process. The " cheese-tub," which is similar to 

 a brewing-tub, having been jjlaccd in readiness 

 in the dairy, the cold milk is now put in and the 

 warm added. Supposing the temperature of 

 the cold milk to be about 50^, and the warm 

 100^, and they were in equal proportions, the 

 heat after mixing would be 75^, or something 

 less ; but in warm weather it will be sufficient 

 if it reaches 70-". I have known instances of 

 good cheese being made in summer \\-ithout 

 ^varming any portion of the evening's milk — in- 

 deed, such now is becoming the general prac- 

 tice. In very warm weather .some dairy-maids 

 tliink it necessary to redvice even the tempera- 

 ture of the morning's milk. The cream, which 

 is diluted either in about double its quantity of 

 warm or new milk, or by being exposed to the 

 heat of the boiler in the same way as the milk, 

 is next x)ut in. I have before stated that it is 



* One reason, amonsst others, assigned for this (uni- 

 versal) practice, is its tendency to prevent the mis- 

 chievous crt'i'cts of the t!v. 



customary to retain a small part of the cream for 

 butter: when this is the case, it is considered 

 best to skim it off the whole surface of the cream 

 before diluting, as by that means the froth and 

 bubbles, which are supposed to be prejudicial 

 to the cheese, will, for the most part, be taken 

 off. Tliis leads me to the conclusion that fixed 

 air, if it gets mixed in the curd, has been found 

 to be detrimental. Since warming of fluids has 

 a tendency to di.spel this fixed air, it is perhap.s 

 worthy of consideration whether it would not 

 be better to warm the whole of the evening's 

 milk to the required temperature, rather than 

 heating a part of it so high as 100^. The pro- 

 cess adopted with the evening's milk, as above 

 described, is generally finished previous to the 

 time of .milkhig in the morning ; but if not, the 

 dairymaid stops and completes it before the new 

 milk is brought in from the cows. This new or 

 morning's milk is then added by passing it 

 through a. sieve placed upon the " cheese-ladder" 

 over the cheese-tub. When the whole is thus 

 collected, some few bubbles are invariably found 

 floating on the surface ; these are skimmed off 

 and passed through the sieve to break them. 



One of the mo.st important points uov^- to be 

 attended to is the heat of the milk preparatory 

 to coagulation, as the milk, if at a proper tem- 

 perature, should now be ready to " set togeth- 

 er," that is, to receive the rennet. This heat 

 is rarely tested by any other thermometer than 

 that of the daii^-maid's hand ; some may, and I 

 have no doubt do, determine it pretty correctly, 

 but cannot alwajs. 



In con,sequence of the changes in the weatlier 

 it is difficult even for an experienced dairymaid 

 to know at all times what proportion of the eve- 

 ning's milk should be warmeil ; she is therefore 

 cautious not to warm too much, until the morn- 

 ing's milk is added and the consequent heat as- 

 certained. If it be deemed too cool, a little of 

 the evening's milk which has been reserved is 

 then warmed, so as to produce the heat re- 

 quired ; but when none has been reserved, the 

 necessary quantity taken from the tub after the 

 admixture of the two milkings is ^^•armed for 

 that purpo.se. Little is known amongst the 

 farmers or dain'maids as to the precise heat 

 which is best. I have seldom heard the subject 

 named, except by a vague compari.sou, that such 

 and such dairies were made colder or warmer 

 than others. I am acquainted with some farm- 

 ers whose wives are said to have a peculiar 

 method of their own, and wlio, I believe, obtain 

 a high price for their cheese in the ^lanchester 

 market, chiefly from the tendency of the cheese 

 to green mould. I know little of the system 

 which these parties adopt, but I understand 

 they make their cheese " cold " — that is. set the 

 milk together at a low temperature ; and I am 

 also inclined to tliink they use less salt than oth- 

 ers. I have not solicited the privilege of prying 

 into the mysteries pursued in these dairie.?, nor 

 could I expect to have been .so indulged if I 

 had, especially if they had supposed it was for 

 publication. It is said these parties get a great- 

 er prii'e for tlieir cheese than many of their 

 neighbors, which I have no rea.son to doubt; 

 and I think, from wliat I have seen, they make 

 quite as gr<!at a (piantity per cow. But the real 

 price obtained, and the precise quantity made 

 in any particular dairy, is seldom known beyond 

 the farmer's own family and the factor. 



I ought, perhaps, to state that I have tasted 

 some of these cheeses, and tiuil tlicm generally 

 very good, fiiir toasters, and without coloring; 



