220 AMERICAN HUSBAWDRY. 



more tender, while it does not detract from its fla- 

 vour. We have doubts, however, whether the addi- 

 ■ tion of any such ingredients has a real tendency to 

 improve the products of the dairy, and in some in- 

 stances they have proved positively injurious. 



To make good cheese, it is desirable that the num- 

 ber of cows be sufficient to make a good-sized cheese 

 every day. Where one is made by putting the curd 

 of two days together, it is rarely of the best quality, 

 as the curds are seldom in the same condition of 

 temperature, fermentation, &c. From twelve to 

 twenty cows will make a daily cheese sufficiently 

 large. 



Experience has shown that the best temperature 

 for setting the cheese or applying the rennet is about 

 that of new milk, or from 85° to 90°. The putting 

 the milk of the night and morning together renders 

 it necessary to heat a part, and this must be done 

 until the temperature of the whole is at the proper 

 point. A thermometer is therefore indispensable in 

 a dairy. 



Breaking up the curd is performed in different 

 ways in different dairies. Some use a long wooden 

 knife, which, drawn repeatedly through the mass at 

 equal distances and crossways, divides the whole 

 into small pieces or squares, allowing the whey to 

 escape. Others pass their hand to the bottom of 

 the curd, and, lifting it to the surface, break it up in 

 this way, gently squeezing such pieces as remain 

 too large. When broken up, some little time must 

 be allowed for the curd to settle, as it is termed, or 

 separate from the whey. Some use a gentle pres- 

 sure of the hand to hasten the process and consoli- 

 date the curd ; while others occasionally dash in a 

 little hot whey, to make the mass more adhesive. 

 This operation of taking off the whey must be per- 

 formed gently, as well as the process of breaking 

 up, or the whey will be white and thick, and a loss 

 in the weight of the cheese will be the result. 



