1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAIlI^IER. 



133 



sell. The home market is of more consequence 

 than the foreign, and should be carefully supplied 

 and cultivated. The cost of cheese-making should 

 be reduced, liy enii)loying the best methods and 

 materials, by increasing the productiveness of the 

 soil, and the value of cows, — and without always 

 looking for uumcdiate returns, either — and by in- 

 creasing sclentilic knowledge on the subject. The 

 farmer must have more and better learning ; there 

 is no position which requires so much as that of the 

 future farmer. The farm cannot much longer do 

 without book learning ; and let your boys uuder- 

 stand that farming is henceforth not to be mere 

 backbrcaking drudgery, for where can all the fac- 

 ulties and talents be so fully brought into play. 



Mr. Harris Lewis of Herkimer county, N. Y., fol- 

 lowed Mith a paper on 



Cheese Making. 



Vermont will always produce, witli proper man- 

 agement, grasses suitaljle for the production of liest 

 cattle and" chce^e ; so docs Herkiuicr Co., and we 

 can surely join in saying " All flesh is grass." We 

 can both dcly competition in any market in the 

 world. I will try to present to you the system of 

 management in our county ; 3'ct rules on paper are 

 so arbitrary, I lind I must lay my paper aside and 

 rather give you a talk on the subject. You remem- 

 ber the story of Naaman the Syrian, in tJie Bible, 

 what great expectations the man luul, and his dis- 

 gust at the simplicity of the remedy proposed. It 

 may be a good deal so with you as to cheese-mak- 

 ing. We have no secret. We take the eveiriug and 

 the morning mess for a single curd ; start the water 

 between the walls of the vat to cool the night's 

 milk, and bj' the tunc milking is dune the water 

 space is full, and the agitator begins to l>e moved 

 by the waste water. The point of cooling is im- 

 portant. I lind bj' experiments that 65° is the 

 most favoralde point to which to reduce the even- 

 ing's milk ; it also needs agitation, airing, to free it 

 from animal odor, the new-milk smell. We hold it 

 at that heat till the morning's mess is all added ; 

 let the agitator continue at work before a tire is 

 started to raise the temperature. Here is a vital 

 pomt; adding the evenhig mess reduces the temper- 

 ature, takes out the odor, and places it in a partial 

 state of ripeness, as I may call it. When the morn- 

 ing milk is all added, the water is stopped, tire is 

 started ami the mercury raised to 84^. Here there 

 is room for variation. If the weather is cold, and 

 the mess small, sict it a little above this heat ; if the 

 weather is hot, below. All these things must be 

 determined by sound conmion sense. If you color, 

 now is the time to add the coloring. I think cheese 

 ought not to be colored, and never would color a 

 pound, if consumers did not demand it. Put in just 

 enough anotto to nuxke a bright straw color. Now 

 add the rennet, enough to perfectly coagulate in 40 

 or 50 minutes. If you design cheese for immedi- 

 ate use, add enough to coagulate in 30 minutes. 

 When coagulation is perfect, when the curd has 

 " come," — so thifl by dipping the tinger in it, it will 

 break clean, it is in the best condition to cut up. 

 Would prefer if possible to cut it in blocks al)out 

 half an inch cube. A moderate heat should be ap- 

 plied after the curd has settled a little below the 

 whey, to raise it to 88 or 90 degrees. Do not stir it; 

 in no way can a cheese be so completely " skimmed" 

 as by stirring it up ; do not move it while in a tender 

 state. When tirui enough to move, raise the heat to 

 98 or 100 degrees, still stirring as little as possible, 

 and keep it there till sulfieiently " cooked," as it is 

 termed, which is to be judged of bj' taking a hand- 

 ful and squeezing it ; when if the curd falls apart, it 

 is done. We think it a Ijctter practice to draw oft' 

 the whey, but uuiny do not, but let it remain till 

 acidity develops. We gather the curd at one' end, 

 raise the vat a little, and let the whey drain otf. 

 Formerly, at this stage, we salted and then put it 



to press ; but now we let it remain till a perceptible 

 sourness appears, then put it in a hoop and press 

 out most of the whey, and then run the curd 

 through a mill ; after which we salt it. The advan- 

 tage is in better proportioning the salting. We use 

 a pound of salt to 56 or 60 pounds of curd ; early- 

 made cheese requires a little more, and late made 

 cheese a little less. Use the best of salt, and mix 

 it thoroughly. After grinding and salting, it is best 

 to spread and air it thoroughly; brmg it to the 

 temperature of the room, and then press it, as much 

 or as little as you like. 



This is all there is of Herkimer Co. cheese-mak- 

 ing. If the cheese fail, it is in the curing, ten times 

 to once in the making. The proper temperature 

 for a curing room is 72°, by my experiments, and it 

 should he an even temperature. 



I think nnlk requires a certain degree of " ripe- 

 ness " to make the most and the best of either but- 

 ter or cheese. Milk just drawn will not make 

 cheese ; the exact method of determining the proper 

 age is what I hope some day to sec found out. 



The matter of cream has given me much trouble. 

 To save it, I have always skimmed it otf to make 

 " sweet butter " so called, and never had a dealer 

 CQjnplain that my cheeses were " skim-milk " either. 

 It muft else go to the i>ig-pen, for you cannot mix 

 it with the curd and have it stay. 



I will lay down, in conclusion a few propositions 

 intended to provoke thought and discussion ; if they 

 do, I shall have attained my end in coming here, 

 for action on your pa^J will certainly follow. 1st. 

 Perfect neatne'ss is absolutely necessary. 2d. Milk 

 free from all impurity, taint, or odor, is essential. 

 3d. The gi-eater the yield from a given quantity of 

 milk, the" better the qualitj;. 4th. The successful 

 cheese-maker must l)e qualified by nature, by study, 

 and by practice. 5th. Unfailing success will only 

 attend those who in proper time attend to the mi- 

 nutia; of thek business. 



Discussion followed, Messrs. Lewis and Curtis 

 being questionea on some of the details of the pro- 

 cess, the former holding stoutly to his assertions 

 that the temperature of the curing-room must be 

 72°, that the curd should be stirred as little as pos- 

 sible in the vat, and that the cream, if once risen on 

 the milk, cannot be saved for the cheese — the divorce 

 being final. 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 



Peter Collier, Professor of Chemistry in the Uni- 

 versity of Vermont and Agricultural College, read 

 a scientific paper on " Chemistry as applied to Milk, 

 Butter and Cheese," explaining the constituents of 

 milk, their qualities and uses, the changes which 

 take place in it, in the formation of butter and 

 cheese, and showing the scientific and chemical 

 reasons why this and that thing is done by the 

 maker, and urging the necessity of more exact ex- 

 periments by scientific and practical men, as to the 

 eft'ects of temperature, of rennets— now so much of 

 a mystery— of difl'erent modes of getting milk and 

 working the buttter and cheese, &c. 



The subject of cheese-making was then taken up, 

 and Mr. Augustus Smith of Dauby, addreseed the 

 Association at some length, setting forth his own 

 practice and the conclusions to which he had come, 

 which did not dift'er very much from those of Mr. 

 Lewis, already reported. He also attached the 

 greatest unportance to proper curing, maintaining 

 the room at an even temperature between 70 and 

 75 degrees. He would have the hand and eye edu- 



