CHKESE.] 



CAITLI!, AND TIlIMli VAKliyriKS. Taiit of MiLKiJ?a. 



At the coinmeiicement of tlie process, betweou 

 forty aud fifty pouiuls is as great a weif^Iit as 

 it may bo jiulioious to give tlie mass. Nearly 

 the whole secret of clieese-makiiiu:, says Mr. 

 Milburu, " depends upon thoroui;hly draining 

 oft' the whey. This carries olf the sugary 

 matter of the milk, the lactic acid, and, perhaps, 

 also the rennet. These substances are so liable 

 to undergo changes, that chcese-niaking al- 

 together depends upon this process being 

 properly attended to. In some places even 

 the curd is washed; for little injury, bc- 

 vond the danger of washing out some of the 

 butvraceous matter, would be sustained, com- 

 pared to the loss incurred, if the cheese were 

 suffered to retain any considerable portion of 

 the whey. Besides, as butter is sometimes 

 churned from this whey, tlie loss is made up 

 to the dairyman, if not to the consumer, in 

 another way. So powerful is the tendency of 

 the albuminous matter of the caseine to putrefy, 

 that even cheese itself will not keep unless the 

 salting process, ia one shape or another, is 

 adopted. This is performed in the manner most 

 favourable to the production of the peculiar 

 kind of cheese for which a district may be 

 famous, and is either added to the curd, or 

 rubbed in after the cheese is made aud strained. 

 Such is the affinity of salt for moisture, that 

 it will soon permeate the whole mass of the 

 cheese, and preserve the caseine from putrefac- 

 tion by its peculiar antiseptic qualities." 



In making cheese, the most scrupulous 

 cleanliness should be observed, as the ilavour 

 of that article is often much more easily 

 injured even than that of butter. The in- 

 oculaiion of clieese is one of the refinements of 

 modern taste aud luxury. A blue mould is, 

 by some, cousidei-ed the sine qud non of a 

 tasty cheese ; while others prefer the decay to 

 be grey, aud the cheese to be in a state of 

 putrefaction, so absolute as to be soft and wet 

 — a nidus for mites and the jumpers. If it 

 be desired to give to a cheese, especially a 

 Stilton, the flavour peculiar to one of its kind, 

 it may easily be accomplished. A. dozen holes 

 may be made in the specimen to be operated 

 upon, with the common cheese-trier, and the 

 pieces taken away. The same trier may cut 

 as many pieces out of the favourite cheese, 

 and insert them in the places from which the 

 others were removed. This, covered up in a 

 4 s 



close place i\>v u immlli, will, if free from 

 mould before, turn out ab.solutely ripe, and bo 

 of tho same Ihivour as the cheese from which 

 it was inoculated. 



Tin: ART OF .MILKING. 



The art of milking well is not taught in a 

 hurry. It requires long practice to milk prop- 

 erly ; and therefore all tho young people on a 

 farm ought to be shown how the labour should 

 bo done. It is quite important that this 

 branch of the dairy should bo particularly 

 attended to, for a good milker obtains at least 

 a quart more from tho same cow than a poor 

 milker. The first lesson to be taught to young 

 people is gentleness and kindness to the 

 cows. These never need be treated harshlv, if 

 the business is properly commenced. Cows 

 that have been caressed, and uniformly well 

 treated, are fond of having the milk drawn from 

 the udder at the regular time of milking, for it 

 gives them relief from the distension of tho 

 milk ducts. Let young people be put to milk- 

 ing the farrow cows first, or such as are to bo 

 soon dried, and then the loss from bad milking 

 will be less injurious ; the hands should extend 

 to the extremity of the teats, for the milk is 

 then drawn easier. They should be taught to 

 milk as fast as possible. Moie milk is always 

 obtained by a rapid milker than by a slow one. 

 They should therefore be taught to think of 

 nothing else while milking, and no conversa- 

 tion must be permitted in the milk-yard. 

 They should sit up close to the cow, and rest 

 the left arm gently against her shank. Then, 

 if she raises her foot on account of pain occa- 

 sioned by soreness of the teats, the nearer tho 

 milker sits to her, and the harder be presses 

 his left arm against her leg, the less risk wiil 

 he run of being injured. Cows may be taught 

 to give down their milk at once; and they 

 may be taught to hold it a long while, and to 

 be stripped indefinitely. The best way is to 

 milk quick, and not use the cow to a long 

 stripping, or an after-stripping. 



"The most important part, in the operation 

 of milking," remarks the author of T/ie Coio, 

 " is perhaps to milk clean — to take out the 

 whole of the milk from the udder. Not only 

 is the last portion the richest in cream aud iu 

 butter, but there is not a more certain way of 

 di-viug a cow than allowing a part of her milk 



GSl 



