70 A COUNTRY READER. 



milk, collect at the surface when the milk is set 

 in shallow vessels. 



Now, the curd that makes cheese does not float 

 about independently in the milk, and will not 

 rise to its surface when the milk is still. The 

 curd is bound up in the milk itself, and the great 

 discovery in making cheese was to find something 

 that would compel the milk to deliver up its 

 curd. 



On examining the stomach of a calf that had 

 been feeding on the natural milk of its mother, 

 it was discovered that there was a something in 

 the fourth compartment of its stomach that 

 compelled the milk that it had swallowed to 

 deliver up its curd. In fact, the curd necessary 

 to make cheese was found in the fourth com- 

 partment of a calf's stomach. A substance was 

 then made from the fourth compartment of a 

 calf's stomach, and called rennet. 



There were some old-fashioned methods of 

 forcing the milk to give up its curd, but the 

 modern method of renneting the milk, as it is 

 termed, is by far the best. 



The new milk is strained and run into large 

 vessels or tubs. These vessels have around 

 them or underneath them jackets that contain 

 water or steam, so that the milk can be warmed 

 or cooled as the maker wishes. 



The rennet is then added and at once the 



