CATTLE AND THE DAIRY 



The presses were usually of the lever type and the 

 weight at the end of the lever varied with the size of 

 the cheese. The hoop of wood was placed on the 

 grooved board, then filled with curd, the "runner" put 

 on top, then the board, hoop, and cheese were slipped 

 under the press. The cheese remained in press from 

 twenty-four to forty-eight hours. After coming from the 

 press it was oiled all over with melted butter, a cheese- 

 cloth band put around it and folded neatly on the cheese- 

 cloth at the top and the bottom. The cheese was then 

 ready to set away to ripen in a cool, dark room— but it 

 must be "turned" every day and rubbed with melted 

 butter— a considerable task when the cheeses were 

 many and weighed, as they often did, from twenty-five 

 to thirty pounds. 



One of the earliest ventures in the marketing of 

 cheese was made from Goshen— that hill town which 

 afterwards became so noted for the amount and quality 

 of its cheese. In the fall of the year 1792 Alexander 

 Norton, being sent south on account of his health, pur- 

 chased, to sell again in the southern markets, several 

 thousand pounds of cheese. The venture was so suc- 

 cessful that he continued in the business. The matter 

 of suitable packages for the cheese gave considerable 

 trouble. Up to this time, there being only a small local 

 market, no package had been required. At first he used 

 sets of shelves, but these not being satisfactory, he had 



