Manufacture of Cheddar Cheese. 



i75 



of foul air obtaining access to the dairy is the presence therein, 

 or close by, of drains. There should on no account be any 

 drain in the dairy. Instances have occurred where the cheese 

 of the best makers has been spoilt, owing to the whey lead 

 which stood in the dairy being connected with a drain which 

 ran direct to the pig-styes, so that when the wind was in a 

 certain quarter the foul gas in this drain found access to the 

 dairy. 



All the liquid from the dairy should pass out by an open 

 surface course leading to, and opening over, an outside drain 

 which is well trapped. In some farmhouses the privies, 

 which are simply earth closets, are far too near the dairy 

 and cannot fail to be the source of an impure atmosphere, 

 which enters at the windows. Lastly, the dairy should be 

 separated from the dwelling-house, and not, as is frequently 

 the case, open into the kitchen or scullery. Nor should 

 it be near the pantry. The old idea of converting the dairy 

 into a pantry ought by this time to be exploded : still, fairly 

 high game has been seen in recent years in a cheese dairy. 



Within reason, the larger the room the better, though, if 

 the atmosphere be kept pure and cool, it is quite possible to 

 make good cheese in a small dairy. The room should by 

 preference face the north. But if open to the east, or south, 

 or west, the sun, during the time of making, must be pre- 

 vented by blinds from shining into the room. Good venti- 

 lation is a primary necessity, and this should be obtained 

 without draughts. It is best procured by two windows, 

 which should be covered with fine wire gauze, so that when 

 the windows are open there is less chance of a draught. 

 Moreover, the wire gauze keeps out flies and insects, which 

 are at times very troublesome. During the early spring, and 

 again in the autumn, it will be necessary to keep the dairy 

 heated. There is no better means of doing this than by a 

 slow combustion stove. A similar stove will also be required 

 in the cheese-ripening room. 



The floor of the dairy should be of concrete or cement or 

 well-laid stone, so that it may be level, and have no cracks in 

 which milk or whey can lodge. The walls should be well 

 plastered and whitewashed. An excellent wash for this 



