CHEESE. 



and then laid in a cloth moistened 1 

 with wine or vinegar, it gradually 

 loses its saltncss, and from being 

 hard and dry becomes soft and mel- 

 low, provided it be a rich cheese. 

 This simple method of improving 

 cheese is worth knowing. It is gen- 

 erally practised in Switzerland, and 

 cheeses are kept stored there for 

 many years ; if they were not very 

 sail and dry, they would soon be the 

 prey of worms and mites. A dry 

 Stilton cheese may thus be much im- 

 proved. 



CHEESE, EXPORTATION OF. 

 The exportation of cheese to Eng- 

 land is becoming very heavy ; 179.389 

 cwt. were imported into Great Brit- 

 ain in 1844, nearly one third being 

 from the United States. The cheese 

 to imitate is the Cheshire, but if Stil- 

 ton could be produced it would pay 

 a heavy profit. 



CHEESE-CLOTH. A coarse open 

 cloth or towel placed inside the vat ; 

 it should be wrung out in boiling wa- 

 ter after use, and dried. 



CHEESE, CONNECTICUT. The 

 following account from the American 

 Agriculturist gives the process for 

 the preparation of a very excellent 

 cheese : 



" On a farm capable of supporting 

 twelve cows, two cheeses of about 

 10 lbs. each may daily be made, in 

 the months of May, June, and July. 

 The evening's milk is kept untouched 

 till the next morning, when the cream 

 is taken off and put to warm in a brass 

 kettle, heated in order to bring it to 

 the temperature of new milk from the 

 cow. The cows being milked early 

 in the morning, the morning's new 

 milk and the night's milk prepared 

 as above are put into a large tub to- 

 gether, with the cream. Then a por- 

 tion of rennet, which has been soak- 

 ed in water milk-warm the evenmg 

 before, and sufficient to coagulate the 

 milk, is put into the tub, after which 

 it is covered up warm and left to 

 stand about half an hour, or till co- 

 agulated, at which time it is turned 

 over with a bowl to separate the 

 whey from the curd, and broken soon 

 after with the hand and bowl m very 



150 



small particles ; the whey being sep- 

 arated by standing some time, is ta- 

 ken from the curd, which sinks to the 

 bottom. The curd is then collected 

 into a part of the tub, and a board is 

 placed thereon which weighs from 

 60 to 120 lbs., to press out the whey. 

 When it is getting into a more solid 

 state, it is cut and turned over in sli- 

 ces several times to extract all the 

 whey, and then weighted as before. 

 These operations may occupy about 

 an hour and a half It is then taken 

 from the tub and broken very small 

 by the hand, or cut very fine by a 

 cheese knife, and put into a cheese 

 vat, enlarged in depth by a hoop to 

 hold the quantity, it being more than 

 the bulk when finally put to the press. 

 The side is pressed well by hand, and 

 with a board well weighted placed at 

 the top. The cheese is thus drained 

 of its whey, then btiifted out of the 

 vat, having a cloth first spread on the 

 top of it, and reversed on the cloth 

 into another vat, or even into the 

 same, which, however, must be al- 

 ways fresh scalded, and thus made 

 warm before the cheese is returned 

 into it. The top part is now broken 

 down to the middle, has salt mixed 

 with it, is reversed as before, then 

 pressed by hand, weighted, and has 

 the remaining whey extracted. This 

 done, the cheese is again reversed 

 into a scalded warm vat, with a cloth 

 beneath the cheese ; a hoop is also 

 put round the upper edge of the 

 cheese and within the sides of the 

 vat, the cheese being first enclosed 

 in a cloth, and the edge of it put with- 

 in the vat. Finally, it is put into a 

 press of thirteen pounds weight and 

 pressed very hard. In four hours it 

 is shifted and turned, and after four 

 hours again treated in the same man- 

 ner. After this it is taken out and 

 carried to the drying-room, and turn- 

 ed every day until it grows hard." 



CHEESE-KEEPING. The ripen- 

 ing of cheeses is all important in 

 impfoving their flavour. A constant 

 temperature of from 50^ to 65° Fah- 

 renheit is the proper degree, but this 

 can only be attained in caverns and 

 cellars built for the purpose. Cheea- 



