3^8 The dairyman^s makual. 



versed three or four times until it is compact. The 

 small holes at the hottom of the mold are kept clean to 

 permit the whey to drain off. As soon as the cheese is 

 sufficiently pressed with the hands it is taken from the 

 mold and plunged into a bath of hot whey (122°) for 

 two minutes. It is then again pressed in the mold and 

 shaped, wrapped in a cloth, replaced in the mold and 

 pressed (figure 86). The cheese remains in the press 

 for one or two hours in the winter, six or 

 seven hours in the spring, and twelve hours 

 in the summer. After coming from the 

 press the cheese is put in the salting mold 

 (figure 87). This gives the cheese its final 

 Fig. 87. shape. The cheeses are sprinkled with salt 

 daily for ten days while in these molds, and 

 are frequently turned to drain, the whey passing off to 

 the draining table through a hole in the mold. 



After this stage the cheeses are dipped in moist salt, 

 wiped dry, and placed upon the drying shelves to cure. 

 The shelves are arranged as seen in figure 88, and the 

 cheeses are placed upon tliem in regular order, according to 

 their age. Here they remain three months, being turned 

 every day the first month, every second day the second 

 month, and once a week during the third month. . At the 

 end of twenty-four to thirty days they are dipped in a 

 bath of tepid water (about sixty-six to seventy degrees), 

 washed, brushed, and set to dry in an open place. When 

 perfectly dry they are replaced upon the shelves. Fifteen 

 days afterwards they are again washed, dried, and greased 

 with linseed oil, when they are returned to the shelves, 

 w^here they remain until sold for home consumption. 

 When prepared for exportation, they undergo some fur- 

 ther processes, to give them a lighter color upon the 

 outside, and also to preserve them for a longer period. 

 They are first scraped smooth with a sharp knife, then, 

 for the English and American markets, they are rubbed 



