CHEESE MAKING. 355 



of winches. The curd is left here to cool for a few min- 

 utes, when it is turned over and again left, to acquire a 

 certain mellowness. It is then pressed for ten minutes, 

 when it is taken out, ground in the curd mill, and salted, 

 two pounds of salt being used for -100 pounds of curd. 

 The proper temperature of the curd is kept up during 

 these processes by covering it with a cloth. After hav- 

 ing been ground, and salted, the curd is put into the 

 presses, in which it remains under pressure for two or 

 three days. The pressure, which is regulated by means 

 of a screw, should be sufficient to force out the whey 

 and consolidate the cheese. It is obvious that much tact 

 and experience are needed to produce cheese of first 

 quality, wdien it is considered what a multitude of inter- 

 fering and complicated changes may occur in the con- 

 dition of the curd, through atmospheric effects, the 

 quality of the milk or the rennet, or unavoidable diffi- 

 culties in securing the precise degrees of heat or fermen- 

 tation of the curd. But in the well-managed cheese 

 factory all danger of failure is reduced to a minimum, 

 as compared with the chances of a hundred small dairies 

 all differently managed, and without the machinery 

 needed for accurate manipulation. It is on account of 

 this uniformity in quality that the American factory 

 cheese fills a place in the markets of the world that no 

 other dairy product has ever done, or is likely to do. 



When the milk is somewhat sour, different treatment 

 is required. As milk slightly sour will coagulate more 

 easily than sweet milk, less rennet might be supposed 

 necessary. But in practice and for very good reasons the 

 quantity of rennet is increased by good makers, so as to pro- 

 duce curd as quickly as possible, thus preventing exces- 

 sive acidity. As soon as the curd is set, the manipulation 

 is hastened for the purpose of producing the requisite 

 acid, but without heating to more than eighty-six de- 

 grees, and if the milk has been quite sour no heating is 



