178 



GENESEE FARMER. 



July. 



The Manufacture of Clieese. 



[Mr, Fish's Essay, concluded from page 163.] 



Pressing. — When curd is properly tempered for press- 

 ing, a cot'on or linen clo!h is spread over the hoop, the curd 

 is put in and pressed with from three to twelve tons weight, 

 turned twice in oight-and-forty liours, into clean dry cloih. 

 The press sliould be sure to follow dovvrt as the curd yields 

 (when young, ) to press out whey before a rind is formed to 

 prevent its escape. There is no danger of loo much press- 

 ure, after the first ten mvmtes. The press, hoops, cloths, 

 &c., should be cleaned with lye often, to keep the rind 

 from cracking. The cloth is taken from the cheese when it 

 is taken from the hoop. The cheese is set on the table for 

 a few hours until dry enough to absorb oil, and then pain- 

 ted with annatto, mixed in strong lye, (from common ashes) 

 kept in a jar for ready use. This toughens the rind so tliat 

 it will not require much grease after the first coat, to become 

 smooth, if rubbed often with the hand moistened with oil. 



The paint will fade to a rich butter color, which is as 

 high a color as is desirable. A firm rind may be formed 

 upon cheese when young, by a careful exposure to drying 

 air, frequently rubbing with the hand, and no more oil than 

 will readily incorporate with the rind. If more grease is 

 used than will be taken up, it will sooner or later flake off, 

 leaving the cheese scabby without rind, exposed to cracks, 

 flies, mould, &c. Oil for greasing cheese is obtained from 

 cream skimmed from whey, (after standing 24 hours :) it is 

 churned till separation takes place like butter, then melted 

 over a slow fire till it is turned to oil. A preparation of bees- 

 wax, from ^ to i, mixed with oil, will make a rind impervi- 

 ous to flies. 



It is most desirable that cheese designed for foreign mar- 

 kets should be in proportion half as thick as they are wide, 

 and not to exceed 100 lbs. in weight. The size of the hoop 

 may be calculated from tlie number of gallons of milk ; each 

 gallon will make one pound of cheese. A cheese 

 21 inches wide will weigh 14| lbs to each inch in depth. 

 20 " " 12 lbs 



19 " " lOi lbs 



18 " " 9 lbs 



17 " " 8 lbs 



16 " " 7 lbs 



15 " " 6 lbs 



14 " " 5 lbs 



Cheese of the above proportions are banded with cotton 

 cloth to keep them in shape. The band should not cover 

 more than an inch or inch and a-half of the flat surface.— 

 Heavy cheese must be banded with cloth that will not 

 stretch, or their weight will make them ill-shapen. 



In April, 1847, I divided curd into two equal parts, after 

 it was salted, and ready to press, and pressed in equal and 

 varied shapes to ascertain the result of varied heat salt, &c. 

 April 24th, (see schedule of April,) No. 1 was kept in a 

 room of from 90 to 100 degrees heat ; did not huflT, but not 

 having rennet enough to keep pace with the heat, soured, 

 was hard, dry and smart ; shrunk twelve per cent in sixty 

 days. No. 2, kept in temperature seventy-five degrees, 

 did not huff, cured slow, was soft and mild flavour, shrunk 

 nine per cent in ninety days. 



April 26th, doubled rennet ; put cheese No. 3 by side of 

 cheese No. 1 ; No 3 huffed in three days, in twenty days 

 run oil, tainted and spoiled. No. 4 put with No. 2 ; huffed, 

 cured quick, and was light, porous and sharp. Doubling 

 the amount of salt would control rennet, and keep cheese 

 from huffing ; but did not prevent them from souring, be- 

 coming hard and unmerchantable. The time of curing was 

 in proportion to the amount of heat and rennet used. Some 

 of the high salted cheese in a hot room, v^ere hitter ; but 

 none in the cool room had that flavor, were long curing, 

 shrunk less, and were of belter quality. The same cnurse 

 was taken in August, by dividing several days' curd each 

 day into three equal parts, pressed alike, and exposed to 

 differeni temperatures in curing. The result was in favor 

 of a medium rate of salt and heat, high salting and heat, ma- 

 king hard smart cheese , low salting and heat, soft, mild, 

 and tasteless ; low salting and high heat, porous, soft and 

 sharp. 



In 184.5, the experiments alhided to, with sixty dairies, 

 being got up expressly for shipment, a selection was made 

 from the largest and most experienced dairymen in thirteen 

 towns. A vigorous effort was made to reduce the whole 

 practice to one general rule, consisting in strict cleanliness 



in injery department I an equilihrmm of heat in milk to set, 

 not exceeding 90° with pure rennet to curdle milk in forty 

 minutes ; curd thoroughly worked by licnd till as fine, when 

 scalded as wheat or corn ; curd scalded in whey, with 

 heat not exceeding one hundred degrees, and that heat held 

 until the curd appeared shrunk, and would squeak when 

 pressed between the front teeth. The whey to be drained 

 off, and the curd sailed while warm, with 2| lbs. of refined 

 salt to 100 lbs. of cheese, cooled and pressed forty-eight 

 hours. Cheese half as high as wide. 



These leading points, strictly adhered to, were found ad- 

 equate to produce the article required, where curing rooms 

 were constructed so as to preserve a uniform ntoderate tem- 

 perature. The cheese, not affected by extreme changes of 

 climate, fermented slowly and uniform, rind firm and smooth 

 with little grease ; texture firm and solid, yet malleable like 

 butter ; the flavor mild and pleasant. The weather being 

 cool lill June, a great uniformity was manifest in shape and 

 texture. A sudden change of weather to 88 degrees, lasting 

 several days, produced a contrast in difl'erent dairies, equal 

 to the extreme in temperature, which was found in many 

 dairy rooms to exceed the common aimosphere from 8 to 10 

 degrees. With little or no ventilation in these, cheese 

 were much swollen, and could be kept in shape only by 

 using less rermet and more salt. The huffed cheese remain- 

 ing in same rooms become tainted, or generated a sharp, 

 unpleasant flavor ; those removed to a temperature suited 

 to their constitution cured quitrk, and were well adapted 

 to early home markets. Those salted high enough to stand 

 the excess of heat, were hard, dry, crumbly and smart. A 

 dry room was found best for a wet cheese, and a damp room 

 best for a dry cheese , but in no case was a high tempera- 

 ture, (exceeding 7.5") found necessary. 



These and like experiments, too numerous to detail, con- 

 firm my conviction that much of the bad flavor complained 

 of in the American cheese, may be prevented with proper 

 attention to curing. In addition to the extreme changes 

 of weather in our climate, which are more than suffi- 

 cient to destroy the constitution of a well manufactured 

 cheese, the \)TacUce too generally prevails, of placing cheese 

 in .some loft or upper room, least needed for other uses, and 

 often next to a roof where heat concentrates, and cheese 

 becomes literally baked. I deem such rooms best as are 

 calculated to preserve an eqnililirivm. of low temperature. 

 A tight, spacious, studded and plastered lower room well 

 ventilated, with northern exposure, where heat may be in- 

 creased, and air dried by fire and ventilation or cooled and 

 dampened if required, by air from an underground or ad- 

 joining room, where ice may be kept, is best adapted to this 

 climate. 



Having previously written at considerable length upon 

 general treatment, adaj tation of food, I shall not here go 

 into a lengthy detail, but a few hints may not be inap- 

 propriate. The success of dairy-men depends mucb upon 

 adapting their practice to the provisions of nature. Cows 

 should be in a condition to yield the greatest flow of milk, 

 upon the cheapest and most spontaneous productions from 

 the earth. Maize, manglewurtzel, cabbage, carrots, and 

 ruta bagas (of the cultivated crops) yield the largest pro- 

 duct per acre, and from the various periods at which they 

 arrive at maturity, are well calculated to protract the flow- 

 ing of milk till late in the season. Those most perishable 

 to be used first. It is proved by experiments that a cow 

 will give the most milk from the same amount of food,, 

 during the first sixty days after having calved. My cows 

 yielded 45 lbs. milk per day the first of March, on 25 lbs. of 

 good hay and 4 quarts of provender in slops. The first of 

 June they diminished in quantity, and the first of Novem- 

 ber on same feed, they gave only 20 lbs. per day. Other 

 cows of equal quality coming in from the middle of April to 

 the first of May, gave, on the first of June, 65 lbs. of milk 

 on grass only, and held a good flow of milk through the 

 season. On the first of December they gave 20 lbs. of milk 

 each, while those in milk the first of March were nearly 

 dry, upon the same feed, proving conclusively, that cows 

 in general, will yield more and better milk from the first of 

 May to January, than from first of March to January. The 

 months of March and April require much more labor and 

 grain feed, that would otherwise turn to money. Nature 

 provides in spring time, a principle of general progressive- 

 ness in the animal and vegetable kingdom. The thriftiest 

 growth of spontaneous products is in May and June, and 

 cows should then be in a condition to receive its aid. 



If seed of a spring crop is sown too early, the crop will 

 be stinted , so with cows that calve in February and IVJarch. 



