CREAMERY BY-PRODUCTS 327 



Skim-milk as a Fertilizer. Many who are selling 

 the skim-milk off the farm do not sufficiently appreciate 

 the fertilizing value of this material. At the lowest esti- 

 mate skim-milk has a fertilizing value of ten cents per 

 hundred pounds. 



Cottage Cheese Making. A creamery side line that 

 has received altogether too little attention in the past 

 is the manufacture of cottage cheese from the surplus of 

 creamery skim-milk and buttermilk. The demand for 

 this class of cheese is rapidly increasing and no one is 

 in better position to make this cheese than the creameries. 

 Cottage cheese is a cheap, wholesome food which, in 

 these days of high food prices, is eagerly sought by a, 

 large class of consumers. A number of creameries are 

 already making cottage cheese and others should not 

 be slow to profit by their example. 



Put the skim-milk in a vat and sour it with a good 

 starter at a temperature of between 90 and 95° F. The 

 more starter used, up to 25 per cent, the better the quality 

 of the cheese. Thoroughly mix the starter with the skim- 

 milk and allow to remain undisturbed until firmly curdled. 

 When this stage is reached, cut the curd, the same as 

 in Cheddar cheese making, and at once begin stirring by 

 hand. Raise the temperature to 104° F., keeping the 

 curd constantly stirred during the heating process. After 

 this the curd should be stirred occasionally for about 40 

 minutes, when the whey may be drained off. 



The draining is best accomplished in a tin strainer 

 covered with a piece of cheese-cloth. The curd must be 

 hand-stirred as soon as it has been dumped into the 

 strainer, but the stirring should be done very gently at 

 the start to prevent loss by mashing the curd particles. 



