CBtEESE MA^IKG. ^ S41 



or to pack them in jars or barrels in salt and keep 

 them until required for use. In Italy and Switzerland 

 the stomachs are chopped up very fine, mixed with salt, 

 pepper, bread crumbs and whey into a paste which is 

 pressed into jars or bladders and kept for use. The 

 rennet improves with age and is the strongest when ten 

 or twelve months old. New rennet is charged with pro- 

 ducing heading, swelling or ''huffing" of the cheese. 

 This peculiarity strongly corroborates the view above 

 taken as to the nature of the action of rennet, for time 

 is necessary to produce most effectively the organic 

 change which takes place in the membrane and upon 

 which its action depen,ds. 



Eennet is used in a liquid form, because it can then 

 be quickly and intimately mingled with the milk. For 

 its proper action it must be thoroughly stirred into the 

 milk which is brought to a certain temperature, lower or 

 higher according to circumstances, for the reason that 

 the germinative action is hastened by a proper degree of 

 warmth. Usually the dried stomach is infused in warm 

 water or whey, and some dairymen add the juice of 

 lemons to the infusion, one quart of the liquid being 

 used for each stomach. Half a pint of the infusion to 

 100 gallons of milk is generally sufficient to bring the 

 curd in one hour, with the milk at a temperature of 

 about eighty degrees. 



The procuring of the curd is one of the most impor- 

 tant manipulations in making cheese, as the quality of 

 the product and its ripening or curing depend very much 

 upon this part of the process being carried out with 

 great carefulness and skill. The flavor of the cheese 

 may be seriously aifected by bad and impure rennet, and 

 if putrefactive germs are contained in it, the decom- 

 posing ferment will assuredly be communicated to the 

 cheese Avith disastrous effect. Doubtless many of the 

 inexplicable troubles of the dairyman arise from the use 



