3ar 



254 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEB.. 



THE DAIRY. 



Cheese Making in Vermont. 



An inquiry was made in a late number of the 

 Farmer about cheese-making. Although I do 

 not feel wortliy of writing for the public to read, 

 I will give my method oi chee3e»mak!ng, which 

 I learned of an old dairy woman, who ua.id she 

 learned of a girl whose parents sent her to the 

 Shakers, with whom sh« served time for that ex- 

 press p«rpos8. 



The milk should be as warm as it conveniently 

 can be had from the cows; if the rennet is good, 

 the milk will curdle hard enough to eat in thirty 

 minutes; it should then becareiHliy cut with a 

 curd-knife made for the purpose. After ths 

 whey is dipped off, which is done by putting a 

 strainer over the tab, the curd sbould again be 

 broken witis careful handling, as too much 

 squeezing works away the riehest part of tha 

 curd, which will be readily seen by the whey be- 

 ing white. The whey first dipped off is put 

 into a kettle or boiler for the purpose of scald- 

 ing; it should be scalding hot, but not boil; 

 while the wliey is heating, the curd is dipped off 

 into a strainer placed over s. sink or ba&ket 

 made for the purpose, then is tied up and a 

 weight placed upou it for a few moments, after 

 which it is crossed up two or three times, each 

 time the weight beiug applied; the curd is then 

 sliced about three- fourths of an inch thick, and 

 placed as loose as may be into a tub. J3o it 

 may scald evenly, car* shou'd be taken to stir it 

 with a paddle for tha purpose as soon as the 

 whey is poured upon it. When theceird feels a 

 little tough, or will squeak beLween tlie teeth, it 

 is sufficiently scalded; it is then dipped into the 

 strainer which is over the basket, after which it 

 is spread on tables or uoard« to be cooled as cool 

 as it can be; then it is hung np in a strainer to 

 drain about one hour; then it is cut by a curd- 

 eutter and salted, three ounces to five pounds of 

 curd. 



As to presses, they differ so much in power it 

 is difficult to say auythitgof them. The cheesa, 

 however, should be proised hard, and tlie whole 

 power should not be put on at first; it should be 

 pressed two days, and be turned three or four 

 times from a tunnel strainer first to a cotton 

 one. When the cheese coTues from the prea it 

 should be bund ii,'ed by a bandage cat crosswisa 

 of the cloth, with a string drawn into each edge 

 »t it wide enough to briirr the bandage about 

 three-fourths of an inch over the top of the cheese 

 before the side bandage is put on; cut a piece 

 the siz3 of the tep and bottom of the cheese, 

 wring it oat in the grease, and put it smoothly 

 on, after which the side bandage, with the ends 

 sewed together, is drawn over, and strings drawn, 

 which makes the cheese perfectly safe from the 

 fly. The baadajjes are mad;; of the cheapest of 

 cotton cloth. The best and cheapest grease is 

 made of the cream or scum of whey, by the 

 whey being set twenty -four or thirty-six hours, 

 churned and simmered slowly to an oil. If 

 double curded cheese is required, the curd should 

 be prepared for the hoop, then hung in the cel- 

 lar, which is added to the next day's after that is 

 prepared. 



THE APIARY. 



There is Iniory, money, and opportanity for 

 displaying fine taste, in the raising of Bees for 

 their Honey. H. N. Schooler, of Putnam conn- 

 ty, at the last State Fair, bad on ezhibitioD a 

 bee house, some six feet high, about the same 

 length and some four feet deep, occupied with 

 boxes, one end of which was inclosed by glass, 

 filled with honey. If we should be told that 

 there waa a ten of honey in this bee house, we 

 should cot be surprised. The honey was made 

 in the house as it stood; and exposed as every 

 box was to view, it was an interesting, and wo 

 may say a magnificent sight. Mr. Schooler was 

 present, and made all the explanations asked for 

 of the management of the bees, and the peculiar 

 advantages of his plan of raising them, and 

 securinf saeh immense masses of honey. 



Mr. Schooler's bee house was oae of the most 

 interesting exhibitions of the fair. We never 

 saw any thing of the kiod to equal it. 



Bees in the Fall. 



In most places, bees will add nothing to their 

 stores after the lOth of rfeptembar. "In some 

 localities, they gain very little even in Angust; 

 but in a few favored sectioas, they will increase 

 their stores uutil October. This of course de- 

 pends on what flowers there are to supply them. 

 Clover usually fails the first of August, buck- 

 wheat the first of September, but golden rod, 

 when ix sufficient abundance, prolongs the honey 

 season into October. As soon as the flowers 

 cease to yield honey, the bees will be on the look 

 out for a supply from other sources. All weak 

 stocks and swarms, not able to keep sufl5cient 

 guard, are quite sure to be found and plundered. 

 Every hive should be examined now, and not 

 wait till nftxt week, when it may be too late. 

 Do not suppose because it was good in June, 

 that it will of course be so now. All the de- 

 fenceless on«s should be put out of harm's way 

 at once, before honest bses are tempted into bad 

 habits by appropriating forbidden sweets. Sea- 

 sonable attention to this matter will often save 

 much complaint between neighbors, about "first 

 rate hives being robbed." It is not safBcientiy 

 understood that good hive=i are not plundered on 

 the start; they are left till Wviuker ones are dis- 

 posed of. If tiiere are no weak ones, and bo 

 refuse honey injudiciously exposed to entice 

 bees, there will be no robbing! 



A family too weak to maintain a defense 

 now, cannot be anceessfuily wintered with all 

 possible a=?si3tance, and the sooner they are out 

 of the way the better. Two or three weak ones 

 miy be united, when the stands are within a few 

 feet of each other, and if judiciously fed, may 

 possibly make something. A queenlesa stock 

 containing stor«s sufficient to winter a family, 

 should receive tha bees and queen of some one 

 or two weak or diseased stocks. A swarm that 



