DAIRYING INTERESTS. l'95 



salt is Tubbed in at the rate of 2 to 4 ozs. of finely-ground 

 salt to say 12 pounds of curd, which is then placed in a hoop 

 OT mould, lined with a clean cloth dipped in the whey. 

 The curd is pressed into the mould firmly but slowly. It is 

 then further pressed, during a night generally, then taken 

 out and set on a board, an 1 turned once a day until 

 perfectly firm. Cheese is all the better in flavour, an<fr 

 more wholesome, by being " cured/' which means keeping 

 it in a cool, dry place for a month, six weeks or longer. 

 This " curing," is caused by bacterial ferment which ripen 

 the curdled milk into flavored cheese. It is a desirable 

 process, and gives us a really welcome addition to the 

 dairyist's table. 



Rennet in the Chemical Sense. It is of the nature of 

 pepsin, spirit of salt, &c. These substances are in the 

 digestive system of the calf. The purpose of it in nature 

 is to coagulate the milk and so render it easy of digestion. 

 In the human economy, the gastric juice is akin to rennet. 

 The stomach of a ruminant or animal which chews the cud 

 is arranged with four divisions, adjoining each other and 

 leading directly from one to the other. Each of these 

 parts of the stomach has a special function to perform. 

 The first, when the animal is old enough to eat grass, is 

 mainly employed to hold the food ur.til it has time to chew 

 and so bring it into a fine state of division ; the second is 

 employed as a compressor to force the food to fctoe mouth 

 to be there chewed ; the third is used as a filter, to 

 effectually divide the chewed food allowing only the 

 sufficiently fine portions to pass onward into the fourth 

 stomach, where it is acted Upon by the gastric juices. 

 This stomach is known as the rennet stomach, because 

 from it the digestive substance is prepared, whether it be 

 in a concentrated form or not. This stomach may bo used 

 fresh or preserved in a solution of salt, or rubbed with salt 

 and dried. In either case, when soaked in warm water, it 

 yields up its essence, a substance possessing the power of 

 curdling milk that is of coagulating the cheese matter 

 and the butter. The amount of acid in rennet is seldom 

 more than two-tenths of one per cent. The quantity of 

 pepsin varies considerably. The risks of making rennet 



