590 TEAi^sACTTOiys OF Tffs Amerwan institute, 



due not only to treatment before it reached the hoop, but largely to 

 the curing it received after it left the hoop. It was placed in a 

 chamher to cure. This chamber M'as by no means a cool one. It 

 was close under the roof, sheeting nailed to rafters formed two sides. 

 The only window was in the east end. A chimney ran up through 

 the west end, at the base of which a fire was kept at least half the 

 day on account of dairy work. In this chamber the new cheeses 

 were kept from the time they left the press till they were either sent 

 to market or to winter quarters in a cellar. Belts of cloth were 

 placed around those inclined to spread too much, but no cloth was 

 placed over the disc surfaces. 



The room was kept totally dark except during the performance of 

 a daily routine of work therein. About the middle of Xovember the 

 cheeses to be kept over were placed in a tight cupboard in a cellar, 

 and there remained till "the next May. They were then taken out, 

 washed, placed in a dark room on a lower floor, and kept till the 

 following November. During this period they were turned and 

 buttered only once in a week or two. 



Other things being all right, there are three important elements 

 that enter into the keeping qualities of cheese ; viz., salt, cream, and 

 time to cure in, and one of which being omitted, the keeping quali- 

 ties are lost. It strikes me that your September make of cheese, 

 which Mr. Webb examined in London in October, must have been 

 deficient in the last named element at least. But granting it to be 

 cured, it seems to me that if salt had been in just the right propor- 

 tion, the cheese M'ould not have become strong ; and if all the cream 

 that was drawn from the cow with the milk, was still in the milk 

 when the curd was set, I do not see how your cheese could fade. I 

 am aware that a very mild, pleasant-tasted cheese, can be made of 

 milk with one-half the cream taken off. Many people prefer such 

 cheese, because it is not so smart as new milk cheese. But it must 

 be salted sparingly to retain softness, and in making such cheese the 

 tendency would be to salt too lightly. Now, box up and ship before 

 it gets well cured through, and you will in a few weeks find it begin- 

 ning to grow strong. On the other hand, if it be much over salted, 

 it will become ruinously hard, though it would be likely to keep 

 much longer. 



Boys being the most numerous branch of our family, I had often 

 to assist in all the departments of our dairying, and have officiated 

 at the cheese tub in my mother's absence. Hence what is here said 



