100 Farmers^ Miscellany. [July, 



would be better to tear it to pieces by some machine than subject 

 it to pressure in the hands. When the curd is broken fme it is 

 then placed upon the strainer, where the whey is suffered to drain 

 out; it is afterwards gathered up, surrounded with the cloth, and 

 placed in the hoop for pressing, when it is necessary to attend to the 

 evenness of the press, that the cheese may possess a uniformity of 

 thickness. The time which a cheese ought to remain in the press 

 varies with the size. One which will weigh 35 lbs. should re- 

 main two days; one of 60, three days; and one of 100, four or 

 five days. 



It requires turning twice a day, morning and evening, at which 

 time the cloth should be renewed. Care should be taken in re- 

 moving it to preserve the surface of the cheese entire. The cheese 

 being taken from the press is far from being finished. It requires 

 to be turned daily, and rubbed over with melted butter, in which 

 a Small quantity of annatto has been dissolved. The whole is put 

 on by a soft cloth, by carefully going over the whole cheese. If 

 too much butter is used, the cheese does not cure so fast. What 

 is required is to fill up inequalities, free the surface from in- 

 cipient mouldiness, and procure a smooth surface. The cheese 

 room should have a temperature of 55° or 60°, and be kept per- 

 fectly clean, and dry as possible. It is necessary to keep it dark, 

 on account of flies, but a free circulation of air is always impor- 

 tant. Where cheese have not been pressed sufficiently, or where 

 the curd has been scalded too much, holes are common, and whey 

 leaks out; in such a case it is difficult to prevent the fly from de- 

 positing its eggs. When skippers are found they must be cut out 

 and removed, and the vacant place filled with a mixture of fine 

 lime and butter or tallow, and the place well coated over with the 

 usual dressing. In warm sultry weather the dairyman must attend 

 to his cheese room incessantly; a neglect of one day might spoil 

 or injure several hundred weight of cheeser The business is labo- 

 rious, and is better suited for men than women. 



The secret in making rich cheese depends upon the success in 

 preserving in mixture with the curd the cream, for the cream of 

 the milk is not coagulated by the rennet, and hence more or less 



