140 THE DAIRY OF THE FARM. 



seen upon its crust. After some hours it is salted and then 

 dipped in salt water and again pressed between the boards. 

 The salting process is continued every other day for a fort- 

 night, when it is taken to the curing-room and occasionally 

 scraped, being finally well rubbed with oil. 



There is a cheese made in various parts of Italy similar 

 to the whey cheeses which are made in two or three 

 English counties. This is called Kicotta. The curd, if we 

 may so call the solids obtained from the whey, is the 

 solid matter remaining in the milk after the extraction of 

 the casein and fat. This is sometimes placed in a vessel 

 of cold water, well shaken, and afterwards pressed with the 

 hand. In half an hour the surface of the water is covered 

 with a scum. This is the fat or butter of the ricotta. In 

 making the cheese, the whey is boiled, a little of the sour 

 whey from the last making being first added. In this 

 process, a scum also rises which may be used at once in 

 the form of butter or converted into a regular cheese. It 

 may be improved by several modes of salting and curing, 

 or by the addition of sweet milk or cream. 



SWITZERLAND. 



Dairy farming in Switzerland is an important national 

 industry ; but in the mountainous cantons which are shut 

 off from the outer world for almost half of the year, and 

 where the cattle graze, and the cheeses are made at an 

 altitude of some 7000 feet, the system is exceedingly 

 primitive. In these districts it is customary for one or 

 two men to take the entire cattle of the valley to the moun- 

 tains for the summer, to live with them, milk them, and 

 make the cheeses, a hut being provided for the purpose. 



