14 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 1. 



dry, it is returned into the first vessel or dish, 

 where it is cut into very small pieces by means of 

 a cheese-knife, which is furnished with three or 

 four blades, fixed on prongs from the handle, 

 that cut in a horizontal direction; and it is thus 

 turned up and cut every ten or fifteen minutes, as 

 well as pressed with the hand until all the whey is 

 extracted. The curd is then once more cut as 

 Email as possible, and it is then salted, by the hand, 

 care being taken to mix it minutely with the mass. 

 Lastly, it is put into cheesitt, or chessart, a stout 

 dish with iron hoops, which has a cover that goes 

 exactly into it: a cloth being placed between the 

 curd and the vessel. In this state it is submitted 

 to the action of the cheese-press, when it is oc- 

 casionally taken and wrapped in dry cloths, till it 

 is supposed to have completely parted with the 

 whey: it is then laid aside tor one or two days, 

 when it is again examined; and, if there be any 

 appearance of whey remaining, the pressure and 

 application of cloths are repeated. As soon as it 

 is ascertained that the whey is extracted, the 

 cheese is generally kept lor a lew days in the farm- 

 er's kitchen in order to dry them before they are 

 K laced in the store, where a smaller degree of 

 eat is admitted. While there, they are turned 

 three or four times a day until they begin to har- 

 den on the outside, when they are removed to the 

 store, and turned twice a week afterwards. After 

 the cheese is cured, various modes are adopted in 

 polishing them for sale, which are rather injurious 

 than beneficial; nothing further being requisite, 

 besides turning them, than to rub them occasion- 

 ally with a coarse cloth, especially after harvest, 

 because at that time they tend to breed mites.* 



It is, however, worthy of notice, that the prac- 

 tice differs, in one material point, in the best dai- 

 ries; in some of which the cream is carefully sep- 

 arated from the milk, while in others, the milk is 

 allowed to cool, but thickened as taken from the 

 cow; it being thought that, "if the milk be allowed 

 to stand till the cream separates from it, the cream 

 can never again be completely blended with it, or 

 retained in the curd when set, and the cheese is 

 poorer; and this, without great care in the man- 

 agement, to a considerable extent."! 



Green cheese is made by steeping over night, in 

 a proper quantity of milk two parts of sage with 

 one of marigold leaves and a little parsley, after 

 being bruised, and then mixing the curd thus 

 greened, as it is termed, with the curd of the white 

 milk. These may be mixed irregularly or fanci- 

 fully, according to the pleasure of the maker. The 

 management is in other respects the same as for 

 common cheese. Green cheeses are chiefly made 

 in Wiltshire. 



Skim cheese is chiefly made in the county of 

 Suffolk, whenceit is sometimes called Suffolk cheese. 

 The curd is broken in the whey, which is poured 

 off as soon as the former has subsided;the remain- 

 ing whey together with the curd, being thrown 

 into a coarse strainer; and exposed for cooling, is 

 then pressed as closely as possible. It is then put 

 into a vat, and pressed for a few minutes, to ex- 

 tract the remaining whey. The curd being thus 



* Farm. Mag. Vol. IV. p. 381; see also, the Ayrshire 

 Report; and Aiton on the Dairy Husbandry. 



f See the Library of Useful Knowledge; Fanner's 

 Series, No. XII. p. 45. 



drained from the whey, is taken out, again broken 

 as finely as possible, salted, and submitted to the 

 press. The other operations do not materially 

 vary from those adopted in other cheese-making 

 districts, but they are more easily performed on the 

 curd of skim milk, as it is more readily coagulated 

 and separated from the whey, and requires lesa 

 subsequent care and pressing than that of milk 

 and cream united. The Suffolk cheese forms in 

 general, part of every ship's stores, because it re- 

 sists the effects of warm climates better than 

 others; but it is remarkable for "a horny hardness, 

 and indigestible quality." A better kind is made in 

 Dorsetshire, although the only perceptible differ- 

 ence in management consists in its being put to- 

 gether cooler; tor, by putting milk together hot, 

 and immediately applying the rennet, the whey 

 drains so quickly as to impoverish the cheese, and 

 render it tough. 



Cream cheese is generally made in August or 

 September, the milk being at that time richer 

 and fatter than at other perfods of the year. Not 

 having the warm season to ripen it, this kind of 

 cheese is generally made somewhat thick, in order 

 to preserve its mellowness. Cream cheeses are 

 more liable than the leaner sorts to accidents, owing 

 to dullness, or the being frozen before they be- 

 come hard: lor when frost once penetrates a cheese, 

 it destroys every good quality, and generates pu- 

 trefaction, or makes it become either insipid or ill 

 tasted. Hence this kind of cheese should always 

 be kept in a warm situation, and be particularly 

 guarded against frost, and till it has sweated well; 

 otherwise all the advantage of its rich quality will 

 be completely lost.* Cream cheese is, however, 

 in general only wanted for immediate use; and 

 that kind commonly so called is in fact, little else 

 than thick sweet cream dried, and put into a small 

 cheese-vat, about an inch and a half in depth, 

 having holes in the bottom, to allow any whey that 

 may exude, to pass, and having rushes, or the 

 long grass of Indian corn, so disposed around the 

 cheese as to admit of its being turned without 

 being handled. It is thus, that the celebrated 

 Bath and York cream cheeses are made, when 

 genuine; but. the greater part of those commonly 

 sold are in part composed of milk. 



A^eiv cheese, as it is usually termed in London, 

 or, provincially, slip-coat, is, on the contrary, an 

 early summer cheese, which is made of new milk, 

 and about one-third of warm water. When the 

 whey is removed, the curd is carefully kept entire, 

 and spread upon a cloth, to the thickness of less than 

 an inch. It is then very gently pressed, for a few 

 hours only, and when removed from the vat, it is 

 covered with a^cloth, and placed in a warm situa- 

 tion, as it requires to be brought forward immedi- 

 ately; the management is therefore different from 

 that of other cheese. 



These are the kinds of British cheese, and in 

 most general esteem; the other sorts, together 

 with foreign cheese, are both too numerous and 

 too uninteresting to the generality of dairy-men to 

 admit of detail. The process of making cheese 

 is much more difficult than that of making butter; 

 and the quality depends more perhaps on the mode 

 of performing that operation than on the richness 

 of the milk. The temperature at which the milk 

 is kept before it is formed into cheese, and that at 



* Twamley on Dairying, p. 64, 



