384 [Assembly 



contained in milk is the cause of its souring, it has the wonderful 

 property of converting milk into lactic acid. It is this same sub- 

 stance contained in different kinds of meal that causes them af- 

 ter a time to turn sour. 



So to form cheese, the curd is separated from the whey, and when 

 kneaded and pressed sufficiently to expel, it wholly becomes 

 cheese. 



If this substance be well dried, exposure to atmospheric influ- 

 ences will have no effect upon it ; but if moisture is permitted to 

 remain in it, putrefaction destroys it in a very short time ; a lit- 

 tle salt is necessary in its manufacture to preserve it ; cheese is 

 generally colored with marigold, arnotto, &c., which are harmless. 

 It should be kept in a clean dry room, with pure air circulating 

 through it ; and the fly known by the name of musca patris, 

 which deposits its eggs in cheese, producing maggots, must be 

 kept out. Cheese analyzed is found to consist of carbon, 59,781 ; 

 hydrogen 7,428; oxygen, 11,409; nitrogen, 21,381. 



It is generally considered a salutary diet for persons enjoying 

 good health, but for weak constitutions it is indigestible. Old 

 cheese prevents injurious effects from the use of fruits that con- 

 tain acid properties, from the fact that it holds ammonia. You 

 cannot discover the fatness of cheese by its appearance. It is 

 necessary to taste it in order to observe this quality. A cheese 

 devoid of fat when heat is applied to it will dry up. The quality 

 of cheese varies according to the richness of the materials with 

 which it is made. At some dairies it is made of skimmed milk ; 

 at others, with entire milk ; with new milk mixed with skimmed 

 milk, and with milk combined with cream. If dairymen desire 

 to make a cheese similar in all respects to that imported from 

 Wiltshire, in England, I will here name the receipt which I re- 

 ceived from an agriculturist when there in 1833. The whey 

 made from whole milk is gently heated, when the curd and 

 butter will immediately rise to the surface ; this is skimmed off, 

 and a green decoction of four portions of sage leaves, two portions 

 of marigold, and one part of parsley are added to it, which gives 

 it its color. 



