pins, the cheese placed on stone or -wooden 

 shelves or benches, and salt spread on the top 

 to witliia an inch or two of the edf,'es. The 

 cheese is turned daily, and fresh salt and a clean 

 bandage applied. In some few dairies it is the 

 practice, before the salting above described, to 

 half immerse the cheesi for two or three days 

 in strong brine, kept in a shallow tub for that 

 purpose. The salting process above described 

 is continued for various periods : by some for 

 five or si-x^ days, by others as long as three 

 ■weeks. I will give the rule followed by the 

 farmer who furnished me with the particulars 

 of his salting of the curd, (p. 143.) It is as fol- 

 lows : 



From the beginning of the season (about 

 March) to the time of the cows being turned out 

 to grass, (12th May,) the cheese remains in salt 

 four days ; from thence to the end of July, ten 

 days ; in August, eight days ; September, six 

 days; and the rest of the season, four days. 



It is obvious, fi-om the practice in this dair}% 

 that it is considered necessary for the cheese to 

 remain in salt longer in the middle of summer 

 than at other seasons. 



After this salting, the cheese is well wiped or 

 w^ashed, has a clean bandage put round it, and 

 coutinuis in the same room, or an adjoining one, 

 on wooden shelve.?, for the purpose of being 

 dried. It is turned once a day, and remains un- 

 til it is considered sufficiently dry for being re- 

 moved to the cheese-room. The le^th of time 

 for keeping cheese in the " drying-house" varies 

 from seven to twenty days ; and is regulated by 

 the temperature of the weather, or the cheese- 

 room to which it has to be next removed. In 

 hot weather, and especially if the cheese -room 

 is exposed to the heat of the noon-day sun, the 

 change from a too cold, drying-houf^e (as many 

 often are, except, perhaps, in the middle of sum- 

 mer) to a too hot cheese-room, is calculated to 

 cause cracks in the cheese ; which said cracks 

 have from time to time to be filled up by the ap- 

 plication of bacon-fat, or whey-butter, otherwise 

 mites would soon be generated, and the appear- 

 ance of the cheese detracted from. To prevent 

 this cracking as much as possible, the salting 

 and drying-houses have rarely, if ever, the win- 

 dows opened, and drafts or currents of air are 

 thereby prevented. This precaution is also 

 adopted in the cheese-room ; and, in addition, 

 the light is e.x.cluded either by a shutter or blind, 

 as I have before stated. 



The cheese I have before alluded to as hav- 

 ing been made without any external anltinir, as 

 an experiment, and which was taken direct 

 from the cheese-press to the cheese-room , was 

 made in the beginning of .Tune, and at the end 

 of September was ready for the market. The 

 quality of the cheese was better than that made 

 in the ordinary way, and all the labor of the 

 salting and drjing-house was saved. My own 

 impression is, as I have already hinted, that the 

 drying-rooms are often too cold ; and that if it I 

 is found to be desirable, as perhaps it may be in 

 some dairies, to continue the use of such drying- 

 rooms, the heat should be kept as near as possi- 

 ble at from 50° to S.^-*. In concluding my re- 

 marks on this room, I must not omit to observe 

 that it is necessary the cheeses should remain 

 bandaged, in order to prevent their bulging, and 

 also that they should be turned over once a day. 

 If one cheese be made daily, one will conse- 

 quently — in the course of a certain time after 

 the season of cheese-making commences — have 

 to be removed every day to the ckeese-room. — 

 (301) 10 



When taken to this room, the situation of which 

 I have before described, it is usual to scrape and 

 clean the coat of the cheese, and to place it, in 

 the first mstaiice, in the coolest part of the room 

 —often for a few weeks upon shelves or bench- 

 es, which are cooler than the floor ; subsequent- 

 ly upon the coolest part of the floor, and ulti- 

 mately upon the warmest part. It is usual to 

 continue the bandage or "fillet" for several 

 weeks after the cheese gets into this room, and 

 mdeed m some dairies until it is sold. It is also 

 usual to turn the cheeses, and wipe them with 

 a cloth daily, for at least three or four months, 

 and every alternate day afterwards ; and when 

 there are aaiy symptoms of cracking, bacon-fat, 

 hogs'-lard, or some other fatty substance, is ap- 

 plied. The floor of the cheese-room is generally 

 covered with dried rushes, or a coarse grass re- 

 sembling ru.shes, called " sniddle," or wheat- 

 straw. The floor should be level, otherwise the 

 chee.ses will not be kept easily in shape ; and 

 should be well washed with hot water and soft 

 soap about twice a-year. The temperature of 

 the cheese-room should, when attainable, range 

 between 60" and 65". When this is the case, 

 the " first make" will generally be ready for the 

 tactor by September or October, and the " latter 

 make" by December or January; but in conse- 

 quence of many rooms being badlv situated and 

 nnperfectly heated, the farmer very often does 

 not get his cheese into the market until two or 

 three months after these respective periods. — 

 The object gained in having the cheese-room 

 about the temperature I have named is three- 

 fold : the perfect fermentation and ripening of 

 the cheese, the reduction of labor, and the quick- 

 er return of projrt. 



It is usual in this county to sell the cheese by 

 what is sometimes termed the long-h'undred, 

 (120 lbs. to the cwt.) but the factors often require 

 121 lbs. The price varies with the quality of 

 the article, the state of the market, and the size 

 of the cheese ; for large cheeses always sell for 

 more per lb. than smaller ones. There is, per- 

 haps, nothing more difficult to ascertain than the 

 average price of cheese, inasmuch as both farm- 

 er and factor make the pnce a secret. The 

 highest I heard of last season (18-13) was 72s. 

 per cwt. of 120 lbs., or a little more than 7d. per 

 lb. ; the lowest would probably be about 40a. 

 or 45s.* 



Conclusion. — I am aware that a great deal 

 might still be said bearing on this subject. The 

 various defects of cheese, the great difference 

 in the flavor, the efiects of different pasturage 

 and food, and various other matters, might be 

 discussed, but it is considered this essay is al- 

 ready too long and tedious. I shall, therefore, 

 content myself by giving the following tabular 

 statement, and the iufoi-tnation promised in the 

 Appendi.x. I cannot, however, clo.se my re- 

 marks without expressing my admiration of the 

 industry, cleanliness and'frugality of the Che- 

 shire dairymaids. Their labors are great in- 

 deed ; their cleanliness not to be surpassed ; 

 and to their good management it is that the 

 landlord may often consider himself indebted 

 for the whole of his re7it. 



* There is a general vrish on the part of the farm- 

 era to adopt the standard vi^eipht of 1]2 lbs., but the 

 factor."! have hithcTto in a ei-eat measure succeeded 

 in purchasing according to the old custom of 120 Iha. 

 The law for regulating weights and mea-sures has lit- 

 tle or no etfect in this county, as the numerous cus- 

 toms at variance vyith that law, and still in opera- 

 tion, bear testimony. 



