CHEESE. 79 



be added to it. In other cases a piece of a dry veil is 

 soaked overnight in half-a-pint of water, and this is the 

 rennet used on the morrow. Latterly a prepared essence 

 is being used in preference to home-made rennet, with, it 

 is said, more uniformity of result ; for on the quality of 

 the rennet as well as on other things the resultant cheese 

 depends. Veils vary considerably in size. Irish veils 

 weigh from 6 to 8 ounces each, and the numbers specified 

 are to be taken as applying to those of average weight. 

 For details of their use we must refer to the detailed 

 account, given in the following paragraphs, of the several 

 methods of cheese-making. 



The Accommodation needed for Cheese - making 



varies in different districts. Everywhere, however, the 

 same instructions as to cleanliness are of course impera- 

 tive. In Gloucestershire a room on the north side of the 

 farmhouse serves for holding the milk, whether set in 

 pans on shelves for cream, or in the cheese-tub on the 

 floor for curd. Here too are the leaden cisterns in which 

 the whey stands, a foot deep, for cream, and from which, 

 after skimming, it drains away to the pig's vault. On the 

 north side of this room is a paved shed, in which churning 

 is done, and in which vessels are placed to dry ; and at one 

 end of this shed is a wash-house (with the well close by), 

 with furnace and boiler, in which milk may be warmed, 

 and where the vessels are washed. In addition to this, 

 there is a cheese-room, generally a loft over the dairy ; but 

 forjhot summer weather a detached and cool airy place is to 

 be preferred. Here on the wooden floor and on wooden 

 shelves the cheese are placed almost close together and 

 turned repeatedly, until ripe for sale. 



