CURD. 



CUSTOMS OF COUNTIES. 



CURD. The coagulum of milk, from which 

 cheese is made. See CHEESE. 



When milk sours, free acetic acid is formed, 

 and by its action the coagulation of the caseous 

 part of the milk takes place ; rennet causes 

 the same effect in milk which is not sour, which 

 probably depends on the gastric fluid in the 

 rennet. Curd is a white, insipid, inodorous 

 substance, insoluble in water, but soluble in 

 alkalies. By alcohol it is converted into a 

 substance like spermaceti, which gives out a 

 very fetid odour. 



When dry curd procured from sour milk is 

 well washed, and then mixed with its own bulk 

 of alcohol, and the soluble matter filtered and 

 separated from the insoluble, and thickened 

 by gentle evaporation, it becomes viscid, and 

 forms an excellent cement for glass and china. 

 CURING BEEF and PORK. See SALTING. 

 A report of the committee for the premium 

 offered for curing beef and pork, appears in the 

 Trans. High. Soc. vol. v. p. 56. 



CURRANT. The fruit of two species of 

 Ribes, viz., R. rubrum, which furnishes the 

 common red and white currants, and R. ni- 

 grwn, which produces the black currant. 

 There are five or six species of this indige- 

 nous plant." The rock currant (R. petrceum}, 

 the acid mountain currant (R. spicatum), and 

 the tasteless mountain currant (R. alpinuni), 

 all grow wild in woods in the north of Eng- 

 land ; and the common red and black currants 

 are also found wild in many parts of the coun- 

 try, but their fruit is insipid. The pale currant 

 is a variety between the red and white. 



The white, black, and red currant ripen 

 their berries very early in July, in which 

 month currant jelly should be made. All the 

 currants may, by being matted, be preserved 

 till the middle of winter, and on north walls 

 and shaded situations sometimes hang, and 

 are good till the end of November. They 

 will thrive on almost any soil ; but their fruit 

 is more savoury when produced in a dry and 

 open ground. They are very easily propa- 

 gated by planting slips or cuttings at any time 

 from September to March. After standing 

 about two years, they will be fit to be removed 

 to those places where they are intended to 

 remain. 



The currant, one of the most wholesome and 

 grateful of fruits, has medicinal properties 

 Red currants are very cooling in fevers. They 

 quench thirst, and create appetite. When the 

 fruit is not to be had fresh, red currant jelly, 

 mixed in water, is equally refreshing. Black 

 currants are useful in sorethroats. (Erande's 

 Diet. ; Phillip's Fruits ; Willick's Dom. Encyc. ; 

 Eng. Flor., vol. i. p. 330.) 



In addition to the varieties of gooseberries 

 (Ribes UV<B crispa") and currants met with in 

 gardens, seventeen or eighteen additional spe- 

 cies are found in the United States. A black 

 currant resembling those in gardens grows 

 wild in Pennsylvania, whilst a red species 

 on a trailing vine is found in the northern 

 counties. See GOOSEBERRY. 



supposed to be derived from the Saxon cusce- 

 ate, from cusc, chaste, in allusion to the conju- 

 gal fidelity of this bird. 



CUSTOMS OF COUNTIES. With regard 

 to the usual relation of landlord and tenant in 

 England, these vary considerably. But in 

 cases where there is a written agreement, no 

 inquiry can be made as to the custom of the 

 county (Liebenrood v. Vines, 1 Mer. 15) ; and 

 when an express stipulation is made, the cus 

 torn of the county is excluded entirely. (Ro 

 berts v. Parker, 1 C. .& M. 808.) The follow 

 ing epitome of usages in a few counties, chiefly 

 abridged from the work of Kennedy and 

 Grainger on the Tenancy of Land, must, of 

 course, be regarded as having only a very 

 general application. 



Bedford. The tenant commonly enters, in 

 this county, at Michaelmas, some at Lady-day. 

 Leases seven years. Rents paid half-yearly. 

 Tenant generally restricted from breaking up 

 pastures, or selling hay and straw, quitting at 

 Michaelmas, is at liberty to plough and sow 

 wheat, if at Lady-day ; then may sow spring- 

 grain till day of quitting ; but in either case has 

 the option to do it himself or let his successor 

 do it. When the outgoer sows, they are va- 

 lued to the incomer so as to include all labour; 

 has barn allowed him, but cannot carry away 

 straw. Incomer takes all dung found on pre- 

 mises free of charge ; but pays for grass-seeds, 

 and that of the labour, and for fallow-plough- 

 ing, or spring-ploughing, which his predeces- 

 sor, quitting at Lady-day, had not time to sow; 

 but with respect to any fallow, either for wheat 

 or turnips, when the outgoer takes the crop, 

 there is no demand made upon the incoming 

 tenant. 



Berks. Farms commonly lease for 7 or 14 

 years from Michaelmas, entering to plough 

 fallows at Lady-day : from which time the 

 incomer has part of the house allowed him, 

 and room for one team ; the outgoer retains 

 the rest of the premises till May-day or Mid- 

 summer. The rents are commonly paid half- 

 yearly, and in general there is no restraint 

 upon the tenant's cultivation, except that he 

 covenants to leave a stated number of acres 

 for fallow. Usually he has power of selling 

 hay and wheat straw, although in other por- 

 tions of the county only to exchange it for 

 dung. Wheat straw he must leave to his suc- 

 cessor as well as the hay. Incomer has to 

 pay for clover or other grass-seeds, the seed, 

 and labour, and hay-crop, at a feeding-out 

 price. 



Carmarthen. Farms were here formerly let 

 upon leases for three lives ; but terms of 14 

 years are now more common. The entry 

 is made upon both house and land at Michael- 

 mas. The tenant is under no restriction, cul- 

 tivates as he pleases, and sells hay, straw, and 

 dung. 



Cheshire. Farms let upon leases, but many 

 only by the year, and this is a much more 

 common practice than formerly. Tenant 

 takes from Candlemas, but only gets posses- 



CURRANT-BUSH BORER. An insect ca- sion of the house at May-day. The tenant is 



terpillar belonging to the genus JEgeria. See commonly restrained from having more than 



CATERPILLARS. a given proportion of land, usually one-third, 



CUSHAT. A local name for the ring-dove, under plough. This portion, however, he may 

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