

143 THE GENESEE FARMER. 





The great difference in the quahty of cheese made in different districts, is doubtless 

 owing more to the processes of manufacture, tlian to the kind of cows and the nature 

 and quality of food. The kind and quantity of rennet, the temperature at which it is 

 added, the quality and quantity of salt, and the manner in which it is applied, the pres- 

 sure to which it is suhjected, and the temperature of the drying-room, all materially 

 affect the quality of the cheese. We prefer salting the curd as soon as it has been 

 pressed a little, and a great part of the whey removed. It should be crumbled up as 

 fine as possible, and the salt (which should be free from impurities,) be mixed as inti- 

 mately as possible. All the whey and water in the cheese must be saturated with salt. 

 Hence it is that a large cheese, from the greater difficulty of pressing out the whey, 

 requires more salt proportionably than a small one. 



It is necessary to continue the cheese under the press as long as it will wet the cloth 

 surrounding it, which must be removed and replaced by a dry one. The cheese should 

 be kept in the dairy, or other cool place, for some time before it is removed to the dry- 

 ing-roon:i. While in the green state, it is sometimes covered with salt for a short time. 



The reason of cheese swelling, or being huffed, is owing to adding too much*reunet, or 

 rennet that is too strong, being too much decomposed. Leaving whey in, or any animal 

 fluid, will produce the same effect. Salt may be added in sufficient quantity to counter- 

 act its decomposing influence, but the cheese in this case will be hard and unpalatable. 



The drying-room should be dark, but well ventilated. The cheeses must not touch 

 each other, and should be turned often, especially when green, or they will mould on the 

 side next the floor. It is customary to grease the cheeses repeatedly during drying. It 

 is said to improve the appearance of the cheese, preventing its cracking, &c. 



One of our lady subscribers informs us that the cheese fly is a great trouble to dairy 



farmers, especially at the west ; and that a strong decoction of Sweet Elder, rubbed on 



with the butter, keeps the flies away, and at the same time improves the flavor' and color 



of the cheese. 



♦ X 



Farming in Kentucky. — In soliciting subscribers, I am frequently met with the 

 objection that your paper is not adapted to our system of farming, and that those arti- 

 cles upon the subject of manuring and making manure, which frequently appear in 

 your columns, are not at all practicable in Kentucky. And this is true. But we have 

 a system of farming, which is necessary to keep our lands in the most fertile condition ; 

 vet there is nothing done the primanj object of which is to make manure in the barn- 

 yard or manure-heap ; but we have adopted a system of rotation in crops, and by this 

 means our lands are kept up. I would suggest to you the propriety of securing a Ken- 

 tucky contributor, to answer this objection. Eli M. Kennedy. 



No system of rotation enabling the farmer to keep his land in good heart and obtain good crops, 

 can be condemned ; yet we are unable to conceive such a system witliout in some way or other 

 retuiuing a portion of the elements which plants contain, in the shape of manure or green crops. It 

 is a proposition as true in agriculture as in domestic economy — " Always taking out of the meal tub, 

 and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom." What we contend for is, that the annual exporta- 

 tion, in the form of cotton, tobacco, wheat, corn, Ac, of phosphate of lime, potash, soda, and otlier 

 elements which exist in the soil only in small quantities, must tdfiniately impoverish the soil ; and 

 that, though by plowing in clover, &c., the crops are greatly increased, yet if these large crops are all 

 ex-norted from the farm, such a system can not long be adopted Mithout seriously injuring the soil. 

 What we advise is, not tliat large crops should not be grown in any way possible, but that care be 

 taken in time to restore, in the form of manure, those important elements which are so essential and 

 at the same time so liable to be exliausted by a thoughtless, wa^iteful system of culture. 



We should be glad to hear from our friend how the farmers manage their lands, obtaining good 

 crops without manure, or in some way fui-nislung the necessary elements in a proper state for assimi- 

 lation by the plants. 



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