1846.] The Dairy. 99 



milk. Unfortunately there is a diversity of practice prevailing, 

 and th is part of the process is left to the judgment of the maker. 

 A piece of rennet one inch square, infused in a wine glass of wa- 

 ter will fetch 35 lbs. of curd. This is not, however, the mode 

 usually adopted. The following mode of preparing rennet is 

 commonly adopted in Berkshire, Mass. Saturate two gallons of 

 boiling water w^ith good salt, let it stand, cool and settle, and 

 pour off the clear and infuse two rennets for two or three weeks, 

 when it is fit for use. Of this liquid two table spoonsfull will 

 bring 35 lbs. of curd. When added it requires very thorough 

 stirring in order to secure a perfect and speedy mixture, that the 

 rennet solution may act upon the whole of the milk at once. It 

 must now stand and remain entirely undisturbed until the curd 

 has sufficient consistence to be cut. When this consistence is 

 sufficient, the knife passes through with some resistance, and 

 leaves the curd distinctly divided and showing the whey between 

 the cuts. It is cut by transverse strokes into squares of 2 and 2\ 

 inches across. It must remain still longer, to allow the perfect 

 separation of the whey, during which the curd continues to con- 

 tract and grow firm. When pieces can be lifted up without break- 

 ing, a strainer is pressed down upon the curd and the whey rises 

 up; a pail full may be dipped into a brass kettle and heated to 

 about blood heat, or perhaps to 100°, when it may be poured 

 over the whole curd. This causes a still firmer curd. If it is 

 slightly brittle, the whey may soon be dipped off preparatory to 

 salting. The quantity of salt is about a tea cup full for 15 lbs. of 

 curd, or, to be more exact, one pound of salt for sixty pounds of 

 cheese, after it is cured. This is the Herkimer county rule — 

 though some diversity of practice exists in the best dairy dstricts. 

 In England (in Gloucester) the salt is not mixed with the curd, 

 but put upon the outside, and about 3^ lbs are used to 100 lbs. of 

 cheese. 



In our dairy districts the curd is salted and then broken fine in 

 the hands after the greater part of the w^hey is dipped out. This 

 practice is objectionable, as the squeezing to which the curd is 

 necessarily subjected removes a portion of the cream, and hence it 



