76 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



March 12, 183 i 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



SATUR/DAY, MARCH 12, 1831. 



CHEESE MAKING. 



The preparation of rennet is one of the first 

 operations in cheese making, and the flavor of 

 the cheese depends very much upon the man- 

 ner in which it is prepared. For this purpose, 

 the stomach or maw of some ruminating ani- 

 mal, is made use of, and that of a young calf 

 is preferred hy the best dairy women. Various 

 opinions have prevailed at different times with 

 regard to the use of renne'. The Jews made 

 use of the juice of plants for coagulating milk 

 for cheese making, as the use of rennet was 

 strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law. The 

 Dutch cheese of commerce is made by coagu- 

 lating the milk with muriatic acid, which com 

 bining with animal alkali, contained in the 

 milk, forms muriate of ammonia, and it is ow- 

 ing to the presence of this salt, that Dutch 

 cheese has such a sharp pungent taste, like 

 the sal. ammoniac of the shops. When the 

 stomach of a young calf has been taken out, 

 which is intended to be used as rennet, the 

 contents should be emptied out, and the bag 

 washed very clean, and laid down into a stone 

 jar, or some other convenient vessel, and co- 

 vered with a strong brine. 



It is the custom of some to save the coagu- 

 lated mild or curd, contained in the stomach 

 when the calf was killed ; hut it is found ex- 

 tremely difficult to keep it sweet, and therefore 

 it is now neglected at most dairies. When 

 the mew has been about fourdavs in the brine, 

 it should be taken out and drained, and put in- 

 to a new brine, sufficient in quantity to cover 

 the maw; in which, there should be put, at 

 the rate of one lemon, and one oz. of cloves, 

 to four maws. After the rennet is thus prepared, 

 it should be kept closely covered, so as to ex- 

 clude the air as much as possible ; a stone jug 

 of sufficient size, i s well calculated for con- 

 taining it during summer, which may be close- 

 ly corked. 



Rennet which has been kept in this manner 

 one year, is found to bo better than such as has 

 been nowly prepared. 



In whatever way the rennet is prepared, it 

 should be done before the season for cheese 

 making commences, in sufficient quantity for 

 the season. It should all be prepared in one 

 vessel, that tho whole quantity may be assimi 

 lated in strength as well as flavour. One 

 very great defect in most of our small dairies 

 is a want of uniformity in the quality of the 

 cheese, and with large ones that we have nev- 

 er adopted any partieular standard for quality. 

 which should be known in market by a partic- 

 ular name. 



In England, cheese making is reducod to a 

 system, and the hind of cheese to be mado be- 

 ing decided upon, the particular process for 

 that kind is pursued ; and the cheese are pro- 

 duced with as much uniformity, as our bakers 

 mako their bread from the same flour, and 

 thus cheese are known from one end of the 

 kingdom to the other, by name ; and a person 

 wishing to purchase of any given variety, can 

 send for it with as little danger of being de- 

 ceived, as there would be, if he sent to the ba- 

 kers for a loaf of brown bread or a loaf ol 

 white. 



Now this uniformity of quality, which should 

 be known byname, in our market, is what is 

 wanted to make our cheese compare with any in 

 the world, as no country produces finer or rich- 

 er pasturage for cows. The first great step 

 towards this, is the careful preparation of the 

 rennet, to have an article of the same strength 

 and flavor through the whole season ; and this 

 can only be done by having it all prepared to- 

 gether, before the season commences. This 

 is so important a part of the proee s, that it 

 should never be trusted to unskillful hands. 



It is a very common practice for dairy wo- 

 men to send to the butchers and purchase dried 

 maws. This is risking the produce of tho dai- 

 ry, as it is next to impossible to tell, after the 

 maw has been dried, whether it was carefully 

 done ; and if not no after process can restore 

 it. And if the rennet is bad, the most skillful 

 operator cannot produce good cheese with it. 

 If you have not sufficient maws in preparation 

 for the season, they shoe-Id be purchased of 

 the butcher, when first taken out, and prepa- 

 red under your own dire' tion. It has been 

 practiced by some, to make use of the stom- 

 ach of hogs, as a substitute for those of calves. 

 But this should never be done, where those of 

 calveB can be procured, as cheese made from 

 them is very apt to have a strong, rank, disa- 

 greeable flavor, unless there has been uncom- 

 mon pains in preparing them. 



But let every dairy roan and woman remem- 

 ber, that after the rennet is well prepared, and 

 the milk is in readiness, that unless there is a 

 uniformity of process, there will not be a uni- 

 formity of product. In the first place, the 

 greatest attention is necessary as to the quan- 

 tity of rennet to a given quantity of milk. — 

 This should always be determined by weight 

 or measure — then the temperature at which 

 the rennet is added. This should never be 

 left to the vague manner of being determined 

 by the hand, but by a thermometer. A titer, 

 mometer is as essential in this process as in 

 brewing or distilling; and we should pro- 

 nounce that brewer or distiller mad who at- 

 tempted to scald his grain without one. 



BROCOU. 



This plant belongs to the cabbage family, 

 but has not been cultivated in the U. States as 

 much as the common cabbage. It appears to 

 be a mixture between the cauliflower and com- 

 mon variety, and perfects itself with more 

 certainty in this latitude than the cauliflower. 

 Like the hitter it is cultivated for the congre- 

 gation of flower-buds, which is the part used ; 

 these appear in a conical shape, and are very 

 tender. When used they are boiled and serv- 

 ed up with drawn butter. The plants are to 

 be sown and treated in the same manner as 

 cabbage; and there is also early and late va- 

 rieties, both of white and purple colour. The 

 purple cape brocoli, or fall brocoli, is one of 

 tho best varieties for our climate, as the head 

 of the flower-buds is large and close, and 

 although the color when growing is a palo pur 

 pie, when boiled it is of a beautiful green. In 

 flavour, brocoli much resembles the cabbage, 

 but the part used is extremely lender and deli- 

 cate. 



We would recommend to every farmer, to 

 set out a few of tho plants with his cabbage. 



HAZLE NUTS AND FILBERTS. 



The common liable nut [corylus anuncana', 

 belongs to the 20th class and 13th order of L. 



This class includeg those plants whose sta- 

 mens and pistils grow upon the same plant, yet 

 in separate flowers. The male or staminate 

 flower makes its appearance in the fall, in the 

 form of a catkin or anient and remains on the 

 tree until the opening of the female or pistilatt 

 flower in the spring, after which they drop. — 

 The hazle nut gr >ws wild in many parts of our 

 county. The corylus avallana, oi filbert, be- 

 longs to the same class and order as the com- 

 mon hazle nut, and of course can be cultivated 

 by grafting upon the wild stocks of our coun- 

 try. As the fruit of this last variety is univer- 

 sally prized, we would recommend it to those 

 who have the wild hazle nut upon their lands, 

 to make the experiment the ensuing spring. — 

 As the filbert is a larger growing shrub than the 

 hazle nut, it may be necessary to graft at the 

 ground, in order that the graft mny take root, 

 as it would out grow the stalk. Perhaps by 

 grafting in the tops, dwarf standards might be 

 produced, which would be ornamental. By 

 this method, the fruit would be produced much 

 sooner than from seed. 



As both these varieties endure our winters 

 perfectly, we can tee no reason why an or- 

 chard of filberts would not be profitable. 



EVAPORATION,- CLOUDS, <fcC. 



Clouds are commonly supposed to originate 

 at a great distance from the place where they 

 are first observed: Perhaps by a majority they 

 are thought to arise where no human eye is 

 present to behold them. This opinion flows 

 naturally from the fact, that large clouds are 

 first saeu at a distance, aproacliing majestically 

 towards us; and when in the stillness of r. 

 beautiful summer afternoon, I see tho horizon 

 suddenly obscured by a dense thunder cloud, 

 gathering blackness as it arises, I often wish 

 that its origin were veiled forever from human 

 comprehension, that we might wonder and a- 

 dore the more profoundly, the every-where 

 present but unseen Author. 



But philosophy has penetrated the veil, and 

 we are no longer at liberty to conjecture am! 

 speculate on this interesting subject. From 

 the minutest globules that are exhaled from the 

 surface of land and water, commences a trait, 

 of events that have their consummation in the 

 most terrific thunder storms. 



Heat, and its variations, seems by far tho 

 most active agent in the production of atmos 

 pheric phenomena. Air, however, at any 

 temperature, is capable of suspending a cer- 

 tain quantity of moisture, and though not al 

 ways visible, it still contains in its driest state, 

 more or less water- 

 Its oapaeity for moisture, though not increa- 

 sed as its temperature, is greatly augmented; 

 for in this last case, vegetation and the earth's 

 surface would be deprived of rain,whcn it was 

 most needed, viz — in the hottest summer wea- 

 ther. 



There is a point of deposition at all temper- 

 atures, depending on the quantity of moisture 

 contained in the air. Winn therefore at the 

 highest temperature, the air has attained its 

 maximum of moisture, deposition commences 

 in the form of dew or rain. 

 The coldest air is consequently the dries' 



