378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



June 13, 1832. 



this spring, on good land, and mean to spread con- 

 siderable manure among those of one and two 

 years' growth. I believe they are worth as much 

 as though they were grown on land tliat would 

 send them iiii higher than one conld reach, the 

 first year. I have sold a few trees and shall sell 

 more if I have an opportunity. I mean to keep 

 enough for myself, as I am determined to go into 

 the silk business, if their is any probability of its 

 merely paying for the expense of labor, &c. 



I have thought of planting a few trees for large 

 standards, but a greater part in hedge rows, as the 

 leaves can be gathered so much better. Still, at 

 times, I feel almost discouraged, as many who 

 have tried it to a limited extent, say it does not 

 pay half the labor. Then again, I see articles in 

 newspapers, which say that it can and will be 

 made a profitable business. 



I kept in the summer of 1830, a few silkworms, 

 just to try thein. They did well, though kept in 

 a common room, and perhaps not attended to so 

 well as they ought to have been. If any of your 

 able and experienced correspondents, or you your- 

 self, will give advice on any or all of the above 

 topics, I should feel very much obliged, as I am 

 young, and not in circumstances to enter very 

 largely into experiments, withouta prospect of re- 

 muneration. Still, I am very anxious to be of some 

 use to the community, as well as myself, by im- 

 provements in agriculture and the useful arts. 

 Yours, &c, JAMES LEONARD. 



Remarks by the Editor. — With regard to the 

 peach, we have heretofore published many articles 

 on the subject of the cultivation of this fruit ; and 

 are compelled reluctantly, to expr 'c^g an opinion, 

 that our climate in New England . ■' .,le to its 

 perfection. An abridged view, [in'^aj'oi't ten pa- 

 ges,] of such observations as would be most likely 

 to be useful in the case of our correspondent, may 

 be seen in the New American Gardener, page 232, 

 written by the editor, and for sale at the New Eng- 

 land Farmer office. An article published in page 

 13, of the present volume of our paper, would lead 

 to the conclusion that we are in the habit of killing 

 peach trees by kindness, or cultivating them too 

 highly. It is there said, that " peach trees in a 

 pasture not tilled, are in a healthy sound state, 

 while those in the gardens and cultivated fields 

 have decaved," &c. See, likewise, pages 51, 54, 

 75, 101, 322, 325. 



With regard to lucerne, we have nothing new 

 at present to offer. The soil slioidd he rich, deep, 

 dry, and free from weeds. The plants for the first 

 year should be kept as well weeded as Indian 

 corn, and for that reason, in Europe, are often 

 sown in drills, so as to admit the hoe between 

 them. See pages 59, 70, and 230 of the current 

 volume of the New England Farmer. 



For directions concerning mulberry trees and 

 silk, our corres])ondent may, perhaps, find some- 

 thing useful in pages 51, 61, 77, 124, 142, 232, and 

 238, of the said current volume of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer. 



CHEESE. 



When cheeses are made from unskimmed milk 

 they are called new-milk cheeses, although a part 

 of the milk has been kept over night or longer. 

 These are the richest and most valuable. Two- 

 meal cheeses are made of the evening's milk skim- 

 med, mixed with the morning's milk unskimmed. 

 Two-meal cheeses, when well made, without any 



mixture of sour milk, are almost as valuable as 

 new-milk. A third scu't is made of milk, the whole 

 of which has been skimmed. These are of course 

 of the least value. If your milk be not just come 

 from the cow, make it blood warin, and put in 

 your rennet, but no more than will just make the 

 curd come. Add an ounce of fine salt to as much 

 curd as will make a cheese of fifteen pounds, and 

 in proportion for a greater or less. Stir the curd 

 till it is gathered ; put it in a strainer, and with 

 your hands work out all the whey ; then lay it in 

 a clean linen cloth, put it in the press, and let it 

 stand there two hours; then lake it out, rub it 

 over with fine salt, put it in another dry cloth, and 

 put it in the press eight hours ; then take it out 

 again, put it in another dry cloth, and put it in the 

 press again, where it is to remain till the next 

 cheese is ready. When taken out of the press, 

 put it in brine twentyfour hours, and add to the 

 brine about a tea spoonful of salt-petre. Some 

 little additions of salt and salt-petre must be occa- 

 sionally made to the brine -^ and let it be cleansed 

 as soon as necessary, by heating it and taking off" 

 the scum. When you take the cheese out, dry 

 it with a cloth ; bind it round with a long string 

 to make it keep its shape, which must be kept 

 round it for some days, and let it be daily turned 

 on the shelf for two months. 



Various receipts for making rennet, have been 

 given by diflTerent writers. The following is sim- 

 ple, and perhaps as good as any : Empty the 

 maw of its curd, wash it slightly, soak it with 

 strong brine till it is well salted, dry it on boughs 

 made for the purpose; then take two quarts of 

 strong brine that will bear an egg, blood warm, 

 and let the maw steep in this twentyfour hours, 

 when the liquor will be fit for use ; bottle it up, 

 and cork it tight, and it will keep for a twelve 

 month. About a tea cup full will he sufficient for 

 the milk of ten cows. Some direct spices and a 

 lemon sliced, to be put into this liquor. The lun- 

 net bag may also be salted and dried as before di- 

 rected, and pieces of it occasionally used, by being 

 previously soaked in warm water, and a quantity 

 of this water used in proportion to the quantity of 

 milk to be turned. 



The acid contained in the maw is very apt to 

 become rancid and to putrify, if a sufficiency of 

 salt be not applied ; care- must therefore be taken 

 to |)revent this, by as m<ich salt of the strongest 

 kind as the rennet will receive. 



In Holland, it is said, the cheese-makers use no 

 rennet ; but instead of this, they use a small por- 

 tion of sea-salt (muriatic acid) for forming the curd. 

 This is said to give the cheese a taste somewhat 

 difl^erent from those which are made in the com- 

 mon mode. This acid shoidd no doubt be dilu- 

 ted before it is put into the milk ; and we cannot 

 state what proportions it would be expedient to 

 use. But the quantity might be ascertained by 

 experiment. 



The following method of making cheese has 

 been recommended in the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural Repository : 



" The milk is universally set for cheese as soon 

 as it comes from the cow. The management of 

 the curd depends on the kind of cheese ; thin 

 cheese requires the least labor and attention. — 

 Breaking the curd is done with the hand and dish. 

 The finer the curd is broken the better, particu- 

 larly in thick cheeses. Turning the milk differs 

 in diflTerent dairies ; no two dairy women conduct 



exactly alike. Setting the milk too hot inclines 

 the cheese to heave, and cooling it with cold wa- 

 ter produces a similar effect. The degree of heat 

 is varied according to the weather. The curd, 

 when formed, is broken with what is called a 

 triple cheese knife. The use of this is to keep 

 the fit in the cheese ; it is drawn the depth of 

 the curd two or three times across the tidi, to give 

 the whey an opportunity of running off" clear; after 

 a few minutes the knife is more freely used, and 

 the curd is cut into small pieces like chequers, and 

 is broken fine in the whey, with the hand and a 

 wooden dish. The curd being allowed about half 

 an hour to settle, the whey is laded oft" with the 

 dish, after it is ])retty 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 scalding whey is added to it and stirred 

 a few minutes; some make use of the hot water 

 in preference to the whey, and it is in both cases 

 treated according to the nature of the curd ; if it 

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

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

 hand. After the curd is thoroughly mixed with 

 the hot stuff, it is suff'ered to stand a few minutea 

 to settle and is then separated, as at the first oper- 

 ation. After the scalding liquor is separated, a 

 vat or what is often o-Ued a cheese hoop, is laid 

 across the cheese ladder over the tub, and the 

 curd is crumbled into it vnth the hand and pressed 

 into the vat, to squeeze out the vrhey. 



" The vat being filled as full and firmly as the 

 hand 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 curd, witb 

 the cloth under it, is turned into the vat and put 

 into tfac jiress ; after standing two or three hours 

 in the press, the vat is taken out and the cloth )» 

 taken oflf, 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 rubbed all over it, and 

 the edges are pared oft" if necessary ; another hand- 

 ful of salt is strewed on the upper side, and as 

 much left as will stick to it; afterwards it is turn- 

 ed 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, where it continues one 

 night, and the next morning it is turned in the vat 

 and continues till the succeeding morning, and is 

 taken out and placed on the dairy shelf, where 

 they are turned every day or every other day, as 

 the weather may be. If it is hot and dry, the 

 windows and door are kept shut ; but if wet or 

 moist, the door and windows are kej)t open night 

 and day." 



NEWLY BAKED BREAD. , 



" The following very judicious remarks," says ! 

 the Andover, Mass. Journal, " were made by one 

 of the most distinguished physicians in the coun- 

 try, in answer to inquiries from one of the officers 

 of the Theological Seminary in this place. The 

 letter it is believed, expresses the opinion universal- 

 ly entertained by eminent physicians." 



Dear Sir — In reply to the inquiry in your 

 letter, 1 remark, that long ago, physicians were 

 taught by observation and experience, that newly 

 baked bread requires much greater stomach power 

 to eff"ect its digestion, than is necessary to accom- 



