AGRICULTURE. 161 
by the hand or by wooden implements until all the buttermilk is worked 
out; it is then salted, and if intended for transportation or keeping, is packed 
into firkins or jars, to preserve it as much as possible from contact with the 
atmosphere. 
Cheese is also another product of milk; the solid portion of the milk or 
curd is caused to separate from the whey or watery portion, by the addition 
of rennet, which is the stomach of the calf dried and preserved for that 
purpose. The curd is first drained in a bag, then salted, pressed, and set 
away in the cheese-room to dry. Pl. 32, jig. 10, is a common form of 
cheese-press. 
C. The Sheep. 
So easily does the sheep accommodate itself to differences of climate and 
situation, that every country has its peculiar race. In pl. 31 are represented 
some of the most important varieties. ig. 9 is an improved Merino ram, 
jig. 10 a ewe of the same; this breed has fine short wool, particularly 
adapted to fine cloths. The Saxon Merino or Electoral race is a cross 
between the Saxon sheep and Spanish Merino; it produces light fleeces, but 
of the finest, softest wool. The English breeds have run into great variety 
by crossing, some furnishing long, others short wool; of the latter are the 
Southdown sheep (jig. 11). Hg. 12 shows the Leicester breed, fig. 13 
the Herefordshire. In most countries the sheep are driven in at night and 
confined in stalls. Sometimes they are permitted to remain all night in the 
open air, but in this case they are confined in a movable inclosure or hurdle 
( pl. 32, fig. 12); or as the night air is considered to injure sheep in the 
climate of England, movable sheep stalls are sometimes made use of (jigs. 
1iaand110). At other times stationary shelters are erected for them, into 
which they are driven every night. Pl. 32, jig. 13, is such a sheep-fold or 
stall, so arranged as to serve the purpose of sheltering the sheep at night, 
while it is furnished with shelves on which silkworms are fed. 
D. The Hog. 
Next in importance to the sheep comes the domestic hog. In form it 
varies but little from the wild hog of Europe, from which it is descended. 
Its teeth are rather remarkable; they are 44 in number, twenty-eight back 
teeth, and above and below six front and two corner teeth. By cultivation 
it has run into numerous varieties, a few of the most important of which 
are figured in pl. 81. /%g. 16 is a boar, fig. 17 a sow of the Berkshire 
breed ; jigs. 14 and 15 are of the Chinese race, which has been more or less 
introduced into England and on the continent of Europe. Everything which 
can be digested is devoured by this voracious animal. Roots, fruit, grain, or 
carrion, nothing comes amiss ; its own young are not safe, even when other 
food is plenty, but the character of the flesh depends upon the nature of its 
food. Where this is flesh or oily nuts, the flesh is very inferior ; but where 
fed entirely upon milk and grain, the meat is extremely delicate. Where 
potatoes are used for feeding hogs, they are first washed in a machine ( pi. 
29, fig. 48) and cooked, which process is found to add greatly to their nutri- 
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