CHEESE MAKING. 353 



is then poured in. The rennet is made from small 

 stomachs of calves killed at a week old, cured, and kept 

 eighteen months before being used. The stomachs are 

 steeped in saltwater — one quart to each — for three weeks. 

 The rennet is strong enough to form the curd in one hour 

 at the above temperature. The curd is cut in the usual 

 manner with curd-knives, but with great care lest the 

 cream should escape with the whey, and with several 

 interruptions of the process, which in all takes half an 

 hour. It is thus broken into pieces no larger than peas. 

 The whole mass is then gradually and carefully heated, 

 by means of hot water let into a space around the cheese 

 vat, up to 100 degrees. This takes half an hour. The 

 hot water is then drawn off, and the curd is stirred for 

 half an hour in the hot whey, being then reduced to still 

 smaller fragments. Another half hour is allowed for the 

 curd to settle, when the whey is drawn off into a vat six 

 inches deep, where it is cooled, skimmed, and the cream 

 made into butter. This is equal to about half a pound 

 per cow per week. After standing another half hour, to 

 develop the right degree of acidity, the curd is cut into 

 pieces, turned over, left for half an hour longer, and 

 again cut and left for a quarter of an hour. It is then 

 slightly acid to the taste. If the acid becomes too much 

 developed, the cheese will not press solidly, but will sink 

 and become misshapen. It is then torn to pieces by 

 hand and cooled, packed in thin layers in the vat, and 

 after being pressed for half a day, it is again broken 

 up by hand. When cool, sour, dry, and tough enough, 

 it is ground in the curd-mill; two pounds of salt are 

 added to 112 pounds of curd, and when quite cold it is 

 placed in the hoop with the cloth, and taken to the press. 

 The pressure is about 1,800 to 2,000 pounds: The cloth" 

 is changed the next day, and again on the second day. 

 On the third day the cheese is taken from the press to 

 the cheese-room, bandaged, and turned daily for some 



