574 TliAXSAVTTO.XS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



change tlie water during the night, generally before retiring to bed. 

 The milk is stirred gently until reduced to sixty-five or seventy 

 degrees, when it is left until morning, when the cream is skimmed off 

 and mixed with X\\e warm morning milk and stirred until melted, 

 when it is passetl through the strainer into the vat to be mixed with 

 the evening's milk. A fire is made in the stove connected with the 

 vat, so that by the time the milking is completed the heat of the milk 

 in the vat will mark eighty-two to eighty-four degrees, the milk having 

 been gently stirred most of the time after the fire was started, so as to 

 have tlie evening's and morning's milk and cream well mixed. We 

 add the rennet at eighty-two degrees in hot, and eighty-four degrees 

 in cool weather, shutting off the heat at this point. The quantity of 

 rennet depends on its strength ; we wish to use only enough to bring the 

 curd in from thirty to forty-five minutes. We do not color our curd ; 

 think that it injures the flavor, and is a practice that should be 

 abolished ; anotta, with which the curd is colored, being so often 

 adulterated with red-lead- When the curd will break with a good 

 clean fracture we cut it both ways with the curd knife, which will 

 leave the curd standing in half-inch columns. The heat is now applied 

 or started, and when the columns of curd will break clean over the 

 finger, leaving no soft milky curd, we stir or lift the .curd by passing 

 both hands under it, very gently raising the bottom curd to the top, 

 and so break and mix it up. We then let tlie curd rest for a few 

 minutes, stirring it occasionally with the curd board until the curd 

 hardens a little, and the heat has risen to ninety degrees, when 

 we cut the curd, very gently at first, not so much so as the curd 

 hardens ; as the heat rises we cut the curd until it is about as fine or 

 the size of wheat or barley. Of course we do not do this in a hurry, 

 and we occasionally let the curd rest ; it should be done with great 

 care so as not to work out the cream ; this cutting process will take 

 from one to two hours. When the heat has risen to 100 degrees we 

 shut it off, stirring the curd frequently, so that it will not settle on 

 the bottom of the vat. We cook the curd until it looses its milky, 

 glossy appearance, feels a little firm in the hand, the particles of curd 

 looking a little contracted or shrunken, readily falling apart after 

 pressing a handful together, and the whey, if all has been done right, 

 will have a green shade. We now put the curd strainer in the vat 

 and run off the whey ; then stir and cool the curd before we apply 

 the salt, breaking the lumps, if any, making it fine and lively, using 

 two and a half pounds of Ashton salt for 100 pounds of curd ; mix 



