Proceedings of the Farmees' Club. 669 



silk spinners and weavers are glad to get it, and would use much 

 more of it. The produce of an acre on good land is about 500 pounds 

 at a cutting, or 1,500 pounds in the season. It produces three times 

 as much as cotton and sells for twice as much. Three or four plants 

 will afford root-cuttings enough to plant an acre. The chief difficulty 

 at present, Mr. Gregory thinks, is the want of a good and cheap pro- 

 cess for clearing the fiber. He suggests that perhaps roasting in a 

 box with superheated steam might break down the texture of the 

 stalk, yet not damage the staple. There is room here for another 

 Eli Whitney to present the south an invention that will do them as 

 much for Ramie as the gin did for the cotton plant. 



Family Cheese, 



Mrs. H. L. Hill, Albion, Ind. — -Thousands of families, with two or 

 three cows, would like to make a hundred or more pounds of cheese 

 for heme eating, if they knew just how. I will tell my experience. 

 Three cows are quite enough for making cheese for a small family. 

 Two good cows will do very welL A hoop, either of wood or tin, is 

 necessary ; about seventeen inches in circumference, and seven or 

 eight inches depth, is about the size needed. A yard of thin, coarse 

 muslin is also needed for a strainer. The directions given for making 

 cheese on a large scale should be followed as near as conveniences will 

 allow. A tin or copper boiler will do to set the milk in, though a 

 cheese box, with a hole near the bottom, stopped with a plug, for 

 drawing off the whey, is used by some, and considered more conve- 

 nient. I use the boiler, and like it best. The milk should be set in 

 pans over night, put in the boiler and warmed in the morning; 

 when morning's milk is added, and it is ready for the rennet, it 

 shoiild be just blood warm ; if too cool, the curd will be tender, or, 

 in other words, the white whey will come out. iSTo directions can be 

 given as to the quantity of rennet, as it varies in strength ; the curd 

 should come in half or three-quarters of an hour ; if it comes too 

 soon, put in less rennet next time. When the curd shows whey on 

 the top by pressing the finger on it, cut it with a knife both ways ; 

 in half an hour slip the whey, if in a boiler;, if in a box, drain it by 

 the strainer on top of the curd in dipping. Pour hot water on the 

 curd, after the whey is off", till sufficiently scalded, wliich is known 

 by taking a handful, pressing it slightly, and tossing in the air ; if it 

 adheres together it is sufficient. I had forgotten to mention that before 

 scalding, the curd should be cut as fine as possible with a milk skimmer ; 



