ljso 



ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



(/?), sunk flush with the bottom of the stand (<•), one over each block. The wedge-shaped pieces (c c, 

 fill, 11*1 ) come out. To prevent the curd working out ol the sides of the axle, the cylinder is seta 



little at both ends Into the sides 

 of the hopper. The dotted lines 

 in fig. 1182. will give an idea how 

 the internal pari of the machine 

 is constructed. Only one tooth 

 is represented on the cylinder by 

 the dotted lines, to show the po- 

 sition of the whole. (Quart. 

 Jour. Agr., vol. iv. p. 385.) 



x Ifi!). Band's cheese press (fig. 

 1183.) is one of the most con- 

 venient in use. " The form con- 

 taining the curd is put on the bot- 

 tom plate, a, and the top plate, B, 

 is made to descend and press on 

 it. There are two ways of doing 

 this: one quick and easy, until 

 the resistance becomes great ; 

 and the other slower, but more 

 powerful, and used for the con- 

 clusion of the operation. On the 

 axis c of the wheel D there is a 

 pinion of eight teeth (not seen in 

 the engraving) which works in 

 the rack r. On the axis e there 

 is another pinion of eight teeth 

 (concealed by the other parts) 

 which acts in the wheel n, of 

 twenty-four teeth. This axis, E, 

 may be turned by the winch han- 

 dle H, three turns of which will 

 make the rack descend through 

 a space corresponding to eight of 

 its teeth. In this way the plate 

 b may be lowered to touch the 

 cheese, and to commence the 

 pressure ; but when the resist- 

 ance becomes considerable, the 

 second method of acting on the 

 rack must be resorted to. On the 

 axis E, besides the pinion before- 

 mentioned, there is a fixed 

 ratchet wheel, t : the lever i, 

 forked at the end, which embraces 

 p, is aiso placed on this axis, but turns freely round it. In the forked part of F there is a pall or click, 

 G (better seen at G *), which, turning on the pin K, may be made to engage in the notches of the ratchet- 

 wheel P. By means of this arrangement, when I is raised up, and G engaged in F, the axis E, and its 

 pinion, will be turned round with great power on depressing the end I of the lever ; and by alternately 

 raising and depressing i, any degree of pressure required may be given to the cheese ; after which, if it 

 be wished to continue the pressure, and to follow the gradual shrinking of the cheese, the lever is to be 

 raised above the horizontal position, and the weight w hung on, which will cause it to descend as the 



cheese yields. By inserting the pin P, this effect may be dis- 

 continued, and the farther descent of B prevented." (High- 

 land Sue. Trans., vol. X. p. 52.) 



8470. The pneumatic cheese press (figs. 1184. and 1185.) is 

 the invention of John Robison, Esq., Sec. R.S.E. When of 

 full size, this press mar consist of a stand about three feet 

 high, on the top of which may be fixed a tinned copper or zinc 

 vessel, of any required capacity (say eighteen inches diameter, 

 and eighteen inches deep), to contain the prepared curd. 

 This vessel should have a loose bottom of ribbed work, co- 

 vered with wire-cloth, from under which a small tube, nearly 

 twelve inches long, should communicate with a close vessel, 

 capable of containing all the whey which may be drawn from 

 the curd in the upper vessel. At one side of the stand there 

 may he a small pump-barrel of about seven inches deep, from 

 the bottom of which a suction pipe should terminate at its 

 upper end in a valve opening upwards, and a piston, with a 

 similar valve, should be placed in the pump-barrel, and be 

 worked by a jointed lever, as shown in the model. The pro- 

 cess is to be conducted as follows: — The curd being pre- 

 pared, and salted in the usual way, a cloth is to be put over 

 ami into the upper vessel, and the curd put lightly into it, 

 except round the edges, where it should be packed quite close 

 to the sides of the vessel, so that no air may pass that way; 

 the pump handle is then to be briskly worked for a few mi- 

 nutes, on which the pressure of the external air will force the 

 whey to run down the tube into the whey-vessel ; when it 

 ceases to run, a few strokes of the pump may be repeated. 

 The cloth and its contents are then to be 

 lifted bodily out of the curd-vessel, and to 

 be put into a mould of close wirework, 

 H it li a weight placed over it until it become 

 firm enough to be handled. The mould 

 should stand on a sparred shelf (a shelf 

 made Of laths like a b;icon rack) to allow 

 the air free access to it on all sides of the 

 cheeses. In./!,?. 1184., a is a vessel contain- 

 ing the curd ; b, a vessel for containing 

 the whey ; c, a tube communicating from a to b ; d, an air pump for exhausting the air iu b ; c. tube 

 communicating from d to b ; /, a tub for letting off the whey from 6. Fig. 1185. is a false bottom for 

 the vessel a ; g, wood frame ; A, wire-cloth. (Highland Soc. Trans., vol. x. p. 200.) 



