1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



15 



which it. is coagulated, or turned into curds, are 

 objects of the greatest importance in the manage- 

 ment of a cheese dairy: the former ought not to 

 exceed 55°, nor to be under 50° of Fahrenheit's 

 thermometer; and tor the latter it should be at 90° 

 to 95°. If the milk is kept warmer than 55° it 

 will not tbrow up the cream so well as at the low- 

 er degree, it is also subject to get sour and give a 

 bad taste to the cheese; and if it be allowed to be 

 much colder than that, it becomes difficult to sepa- 

 rate the curd from the whey, and the cheese made 

 from it will be soft and insipid. If the curd be 

 coagulated too hot it becomes touffh; much of the 

 butyraceous matter will go off with the whey; and 

 the cheese will be hard and tasteless. The ther- 

 mometer should, therefore, always be employed in 

 every dairy; and, although the servants may at 

 first be prejudiced against it, yet its evident utility, 

 and great, simplicity, will eventually reconcile them 

 to its use. 



The greatest care should be taken thoroughly 

 to extract every particle of whey from the curd; 

 for no cheese will keep well while any whey re- 

 mains, and if any part become sour, the whole 

 will acquire a disagreeable flavor. Similar effects 

 are produced by the use of an immoderate quan- 

 tity of rennet; it is also apt to blow up the cheese 

 full of email holes; and this last effect will be pro- 

 duced if it be allowed to remain too long on one 

 side. 



Sometimes it happens that cheese will hove or 

 swell, either from some accident, or from inatten- 

 tion in some part of the process. Mr. Holland at- 

 tributes it partly to the cows being fed on clover: 

 he also thinks that the cracking of cheese is oc- 

 casioned by the use of lime on the pasture; but 

 these observations have not been corroborated by 

 general experience. To prevent, as likewise to 

 stop, this hoving, it has been recommended to lay 

 such cheeses in a moderately cool, dry place, and 

 regularly to turn them. Whenever any one be- 

 comes considerably swollen, it will be requisite to 

 prick it on both sides in several places, particularly 

 where it is most elevated, by thrusting a large 

 awl, or pin, pretty deeply into it; repeating this as 

 often as may be necessary. Though the prick- 

 ing, it is observed, will not altogether prevent the 

 swelling, yet it will, by giving a passage to the 

 confined air, render it less considerable, and the 

 cavities of the cheese will neither be so disagree- 

 able, nor consequently so unsightly or unpleasant 

 to the eye. 



A very experienced dairyman* is of opinion, 

 that from nine to twelve months' time are requi- 

 site to ripen cheese of any kind, if from fourteen 

 to twenty pounds weight; and lays it down as a 

 rule, in the process of making cheese, that the 

 hotter it is put together, the sounder it will be; and 

 the cooler, the richer, and more apt to decay. He 

 also recommends the use of a small quantity of 

 loppercd, or sour milk, as a preventive of its rising, 

 which is one of the worst accidents to which it is 

 liable. It should be kept in an airy but not in a 

 cold place, and if the moderately dried leaves of 

 the tutsan, or park leaves, as it is provincially 

 termed (hypericum androsamwn, L.;) or, of the 

 yellow star of Bethlehem, (ornithngalum luteum, 

 L.;) or, if the young twigs of the common birch- 



tree be placed on the surface or sides of cheesea 

 they will — especially the tender branches of the 

 birch — be found very serviceable in preventing the 

 depredations of mites. It is a good practice to 

 strew a little dry moss, or fine hay, upon the 

 shelves on which the cheeses are laid; as, when 

 new, they sometimes adhere to the board, and 

 communicate a dampness to it that is prejudicial 

 to the other side of the cheese, when turned: it 

 also promotes their drying. At a more advanced 

 stage they may be laid upon straw; but at first, it 

 would sink into, and deface, the surface. To 

 which we will add, as general maxims — that great 

 cleanliness, sweet rennet, and attention to the heat 

 of the milk and breaking the curd, are the chief 

 requisites in cheese making. 



[To be continued.] 



From the New York Farmer. 

 EXTRACTS FROM AN AGRICULTURAL TOUR* 



Sheep husbandry in New England. 

 * * * # * 



Elias Taylor, of Charlcmont, a shrewd and in- 

 telligent farmer, gave me some account of his ope- 

 rations, which I record, because the opinions and 

 practices of observing and intelligent husbandmen, 

 even on familiar subjects, though they may con- 

 tain nothing original, are worth remembering. He 

 is lamiliar with the business of fattening sheep for 

 the market, and, as I know from the best authori- 

 ty, has pursued it with great success. 



His general practice has been to sell them after 

 shearing. He is of opinion that it is more profita- 

 ble to buy, for this purpose, wethers than ewes. 

 He prefers merinos on account of the superior 

 value of the fleece; dislikes Saxony for their in- 

 ferior size; and thinks merinos are kept at less ex- 

 pense than native sheep; chooses to buy them of 

 different ages, and puts them in his pastures, so 

 that he may select such as are suitable, and have 

 them come along in succession; considers five 

 years old as the best age for fattening; chooses to 

 feed them moderately until a short time before he 

 designs to market them, as he thinks they will not 

 pay the cost of high feeding for a long time; often 

 begins to fatten in March, sheep which he designs 

 to market immediately after shearing. His store 

 wethers he is accustomed to keep in the yard with 

 his cattle, upon the orts and husks which are 

 thrown out to them. His wethers for fattening he 

 keeps upon rowen the first part of the season; and 

 after he begins to feed them upon corn, he takes 

 care, he says, not to allow them to be hungry; to 

 feed them with regularity; and never sutlers them 

 to be disturbed. His wether sheep often give four 

 pounds of washed wool at shearing. 



He mentions an experiment in feeding swine 

 which deserves notice. He put up four swine, 

 and fed them with potatoes and Indian meal, at 

 the rate of three bushels of potatoes to one peck 

 of Indian meal. He boiled the potatoes, and 

 while hot, mashed them with the Indian meal. 

 He then added cold water, and left the mixture to 

 ferment, and when it became sour, he fed his swine 

 freely with it. He says that he never had his 



Mr. Parkinson, Treatise on Live Stock, Vol.1. * By the Rev. Henry Colman, of Massachusetts. 

 Ch. I. Sect. 12. I Ed. Far. Reg. 



