NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JULY 17, 1833. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 17, 1833. 



Cheese Making. The proper season for making cheese 

 is from the beginning of May till the close of September, 

 or in favorable seasons till the middle of October. Very 

 good cheese, however, may be made in winter, provided 

 the cows be well fed. The milk, according to Marshall, 

 at the time of adding the rennet, should be from 85 to 

 90 degrees of heat, and about two hours time should be 

 allowed for it to change into curd. In some dairies the 

 milk is heated over a fire, to the proper temperature ; 

 but according to Marshall, the most approved practice 

 is to mix boiling water in such a proportion as shall 

 render the milk of a proper degree of heat to receive 

 the rennet ; this the thermometer should be used to de- 

 termine. 



The proportion of rennet to be used is differently 

 stated by different authors, but a little experience will 

 decide. The salt, according to the best authors, may be 

 one ounce, fine, to so much curd as will make a cheese 

 of fifteen pounds, and in that proportion for a greater 

 or less quantity. During the process of turning the 

 milk into curd it should be covered, so as to lose but 

 little of its original heat. 



When the coagulation has taken place the curd is 

 broken or cut with a cheese knife, which causes the 

 whey to rise through the incisions, and the curd sinks 

 with more ease. After a short time the cutting is re- 

 peated, still more freely than before ; and is continued 

 until the curd is reduced to small uniform particles. 

 This operation will require about three quarters of an 

 hour ; the cheese tub is again covered with a cloth, and 

 is allowed to remain for the same time. When the curd 

 has sunk to the bottom of the vessel, the whey is taken 

 off with a dish after it is pretty well separated from the 

 curd. 



It is almost an invariable practice to scald the curd. 

 The mass is first broken very fine, and then the scald- 

 ing whey is added to it and stirred a few minutes ; some 

 make use of hot water in preference to whey, and it is 

 in both cases heated according to the nature of the curd ; 

 if it is soft, the whey or water is used nearly boiling ; 

 but if hard, it is only used a little hotter than the hand. 

 After the curd is thoroughly mixed with the hot stuff, 

 it is suffered to stand a few minutes to settle, and is 

 then separated as at the first operation. After the scald- 

 ing liquor is separated, a vat, or what is often called a 

 cheese hoop, is laid across the cheese ladder over the 

 tub, and the curd is crumbled into it with the hands 

 and pressed into the vat, to squeeze out the whey. The 

 vat being filled as full and as firmly as the hand alone 

 can fill it, and rounded up in the middle, a cheese cloth 

 is spread over it, and the curd is turned out of the hoop 

 into the cloth ; the vat is then washed, and the inverted 

 mass of curds, with the cloth under it, is returned into 

 the vat and put into the press ; after standingtwo or three 

 hours in the press, the vat is taken out, and the cloth is 

 taken off, washed, and put round the cheese, and it is 

 replaced in the vat and in the press. In about seven or 

 eight hours it is taken out of the press and salted, the 

 cheese is placed on a board and a handful of salt is rub- 

 bed all over it, and the edges are pared off if necessary ; 

 another handful of salt is strewed on the upper side, 

 and as much left as will stick to it ; afterward it is turned 

 into the bare vat without a cloth, and an equal quantity 

 of salt is added to it, and the cheese is returned into the 

 press ; here it continues one night, and the next morn- 

 ing it is turned in the vat, and continues till the suc- 

 ceeding morning, and the curd is taken out and placed 

 on the dairy shelf; here they are turned every day, or 

 every other day, as the weather may be. If it is hot 



and dry, the windows and doors are kept shut, but it wet 

 or moist, the doors and windows are kept open night 

 and day. 



Cleaning the Cheese. The cheeses having remained 

 about ten days after leaving the press, are to be 

 washed and scraped in the following manner; a large 

 tub of cold sweet whey is placed on the floor, the cheeses 

 are immerged in it, where they continue one hour, or 

 longer if necessary, to soften the rind. They are then 

 taken out and scraped with a common case knife, with 

 great care, so as not to injure the tender rind, till every 

 part of the cheese is smooth ; they are after the last ope- 

 ration rinsed in the whey and wiped clean with a coarse 

 cloth, and placed in an airy situation to dry, after which 

 they are placed in the cheese room. The floor of the 

 cheese room is generally prepared by rubbing it with 

 bean or potato tops or any succulent herb, till it appears 

 of a black wet color ; on this floor the cheeses are placed, 

 and turned twice a week ; their edges are wiped hard 

 with a cloth once a week, and the floor is cleansed and 

 rubbed with fresh herbs once a fortnight. They must 

 not lie too long or they will stick to the floor. This 

 preparation of the floor gives the cheese a, blue coat, 

 which is considered of great consequence. 



Stilton Cheese — how made. The Stilton Cheese, which 

 may be called the Parmesan of England, is not confined 

 to Stilton and its vicinity, for many farmers in Hunting- 

 donshire, and also in Rutland and Northamptonshire 

 make a similar sort, sell them for the same price, and 

 give them the name of the Stilton Cheeses. 



Take the night's cream and put it to the morning's 

 new milk with the rennet ; when the curd is separated 

 let it not be broken as is done with other cheese, but 

 take it out, disturbing it as little as possible, and suffer 

 it to dry gradually in a sieve ; and as the whey separates, 

 compress it gradually till it has acquired a firm consist- 

 ence ; then place it in a wooden hoop and suffer it to 

 dry very gradually on a board, taking care at the same 

 time to turn it daily with close binders round, and which 

 must be tightened as the cheese acquires more solidity. 

 Parmesan Cheese. This sort of cheese was formerly 

 supposed to be made from the milk of goats, but it is 

 merely a skim milk cheese the curd hardened by heat, 

 well salted, pressed and dried, long kept and rich in 

 flavor from the rich herbage of the meadows of the Po, 

 where the cows are pastured. 



The process, according to Pryce, (Bath Papers, vol. 

 vii,) is as follows : — the evening's milk, after having 

 been skimmed in the morning, and standing till ten 

 o'clock, and the morning's milk skimmed in about two 

 hours after it is drawn from the cow, are mixed together. 

 The mixture is then suspended in a cauldron, over a 

 wooden fire as represented 

 in the figure, and frequent- 

 ly stirred till it attains about 

 82 deg. of Fahr. ; the ren- 

 net is then put in, and the 

 copper taken from the fire, 

 the coagulation quickly — 

 takes place, and the curd 

 is afterwards worked with 

 a stick till it is reduced to 

 a small grain. The whey 

 now occupies the surface, 

 and a part of it being taken 

 out, the cauldron is again 



put over the fire, and raised to a temperature of about 

 145 degrees, or nearly a boiling heat. A little saffron is 

 now added to impart color, the whole being all the while 

 well stirred, and the superintendent examining it from 

 time to time, with his finger and thumb, to ascertain the 

 exact moment, when the curd shall have become suffi- 



ciently solid. When this is the case, the cauldron is 

 removed from the fire, and the curd allowed to subside ; 

 three fourths of the whey is then laded oft', water poured 

 round the bottom of the cauldron outside, to cool it, so 

 as to admit of a cloth being passed below the curd, which 

 is thus brought up and placed in a tub to clear. When 

 drained it is put into a wooden hoop, and about half a 

 hundred weight laid on it for half an hour; the cloth is 

 then removed, and the cheese being replaced in the 

 hoop, is laid on a shelf; here it remains for two or three 

 days, at the end of which it is sprinkled over with salt ; 

 this sprinkling is repeated every second day for about 

 thirty days if it be summer, and for about fort}', or forty- 

 five days if it be winter; after which no further atten- 

 tion is required. The best Parmesan cheese is that 

 which has been kept for three or four years ; but none 

 is ever carried to market for sale, until it has been kept 

 at least six months. 



We have given the shape of the cauldron, and the 

 manner of setting it as above, because it appears to ' 

 us to possess advantages over the common mode of 

 setting kettles, in taking less room, and presents 

 more surface to the action of the fire in proportion to 

 the contents of the vessel. 



Transactions of tlie Essex Agricultural Society, 

 for the Year 1833. 



A large and valuable pamphlet with this title, was sent 

 us sometime since, by a friend to whom we have often 

 been indebted for similar acts of kindness. We should 

 sooner have acknowledged this favor, but by accident the 

 pamphlet w r as mislaid, and did not come into our hands 

 till after most of the matter for our present No. of the 

 N. E. Farmer was in type. A cursory view of the con- 

 tents of this work has given us a high opinion of the 

 publication, and we intend from time to time to make 

 a free use of its treasures of agricultural information for 

 the benefit of our readers. 



ITEMS OP INTELLIGENCE. 



Cholera. The Cholera at Castine. — A vessel has 

 arrived, it is said, at Castine, from New Orleans, with 

 the scourge of the world on board. Two have died on 

 the passage, and one since their arrival at Castine. Our 

 citizens should meet this disease with coolness and for- 

 titude, if so be that we are to be visited. It is not our 

 opinion that we are in immediate danger. — Belfast 

 Journal. 



From Maysville (Ky.) Monitor of July 4th, we learn 

 that the cholera still continues in that place, though its 

 malio-nity has considerably abated. The whole number 

 of deaths is stated to be 53. In the same paper the fol- 

 owing synopsis of deaths, in other places, is given. 



In Flemingsburg, a population of about 700, there 

 have been G3 deaths. 



Maysville, a population of about 800 — 53 deaths. 



Lexington — population of 0,500 — 400 deaths. 



Paris — population about 1100 — 700 deaths. 



Lancaster — about 600 — 12 deaths in 4 days. 



Lawrenceburg — population of 200 — 40 deaths. 



Millersburg^population of 400— 200 deaths. 



Cythinana — population 00 — 12 or 15 deaths. 



Washington — population of 600 — 8 deaths. 



Mayslick — population 400—7 deaths. 



A letter of a late date from Valparaiso, received in 

 this town, states that the cholera had not yet appeared at 

 the Ports of the Pacific, but that the Scarlet Fever had 

 been quite as detructive there as the Cholera has been 

 in other parts of the globe A tenth part of the popula- 

 tion of Valparaiso, had been caried off by this disease 

 in four months. — Essex Register. 



