.157) 302 THE GENE8KK FARMER ( 



His other objection is, that we recommend the milk to be raised to too high a tem- 

 perature (95 deg. Fahr.) at the time of adding the rennet. He thinks 85 to 90 deg. 

 the proper heat. 



We know that the colder a cheese is " set," the sweeter, softer, and tenderer it will be, 

 and have a rich buttery appearance ; but at the same time there is danger of having it 

 too cold — the curd is not all obtained from the milk, and it is very difficult to get all 

 the. whey out of the cheese, whereby it is much injured and often spoiled. We dislike 

 a tough, dry, hard, white cheese, as much as any one, and therefore would not advise 

 our readers to put the cheese together too warm ; at the same time, we do not like a 

 cheese that cuts like butter, and lacks that sharp, dry, cheese taste, so much sought after 

 by good judges — such as a cheese would be if put together too cool. It is, however, 

 possible that we have given the temperature for setting milk rather too high, and that 

 90 deg. would be the best average temperature. At the recent New York State Fair, 

 where there was a splendid exhibition of cheese, we conversed with several exhibitors in 

 respect to the process of cheese making. The temperature at which they set the milk, 

 ranged from 85 to 96 deg. One large maker, from Herkimer county, said he did not use 

 a thermometer, and always judged by his hand, endeavoring to get it about blood heat, 

 (98 deg. Fahr.) — setting it a little warmer in spring and fall, than during the hot 

 months. The celebrated Cheshire cheese is set from 90 to 100 deg., the desired tem- 

 perature being 95 deg. As a general thing, the poorer the milk is in butter, the colder 

 should it be set together ; otherwise the cheese will be hard and tough. 



We are glad to have our articles commented on by our readers, even in contemporary 

 papers, hoping that truth will be drawn out, and the cause of agriculture advanced by 

 discussion. Cheese is at present, and will continue to be, one of our great agricultural 

 products. We wrote the article in May, for the purpose of inducing farmers to make 

 more cheese, and hoping to throw a little additional light on the chemical and practical 

 process of cheese maJving, that would not be useless even to those who have been years 

 in the business. 



DEOUTH AND DEEP TILLAGE. 



The depth to which the roots of wheat, corn, clover, &c., penetrate the earth, under 

 favorable circumstances, is much greater than is •generally supposed. We have seen 

 roots of wheat, under ordinary cultivation, that were upwards of nine feet long ; and it 

 is supposed that clover roots descend lower than wheat, though on what evidence we 

 know not. The value of deep ploAving and thorough pulverization of the soil, is now 

 beginning to be more generally seen, and accordingly believed in. 



There are some soils on which deep plowing Avould, for the first few years after the 

 operation, prove injurious ; yet in the end, under the meliorating effect of the atmos- 

 phere, the advantage of such plowing and working would be most decided. Subsoil 

 plowing, or merely breaking and loosening the subsoil without bringing it to the surface 

 or mixing it with surface soil, can not prove injurious on any soil, though it may the 

 first and second year cause it to throw up a most unusual quantity of weeds, instances 

 of which we have ourselves experienced. 



We do not think it is necessary or advisable to plow deep for every crop — one good 

 deep plowing once in four or five years being all that is required. Especially is this 

 true where manure is applied pretty freely, and crops are grown wnich require most 

 manure during the early stages of their growth. 



It is rather a difficult matter to get some farmers to believe that in a very dry sum- 

 mer, land that is well underdrained and subsoiled. so that all water shall drain off 

 quickly, is really wetter, or is capable of supplying more water to the growing plants, 





