iy6 Manufacture of Cheddar Cheese. 



whether it is fit to allow the whey to be drawn, though 

 frequently those who at a later stage are unable to estimate 

 its fitness for grinding appear to have no difficulty in 

 estimating whether the curd is fit to permit the whey to be 

 drawn or not. From the drawing of the whey to the 

 grinding of the curd every step in the manufacture,, 

 excepting the time curd remains piled, proceeds by time 

 stages of certain duration, and no special aptitude is required 

 until it becomes necessary to judge whether the curd is fit 

 for grinding or not. This, without doubt, is the point where 

 the greatest demand is made upon the cheese-maker' s 

 judgment, and when any serious error will hopelessly ruin 

 the cheese. An error in judgment at any previous stage 

 may, by a skilful maker, be very largely counteracted in 

 subsequent operations, but an error at this stage is fatal. 

 The determination of the proper condition of the curd for 

 grinding has probably been the greatest difficulty the 

 cheese-maker had to contend against in the past. How difficult 

 it was may be seen from the variations shown by the following 

 figures, obtained before the value of the acidimeter had 

 been proved. On August 30th, 1891, the acidity of the 

 liquid last coming from the curd before grinding was -84 per 

 cent., three days before on the 27th it was -93, and three days 

 before that, on the 24th, it was as high as 1*05 per cent. In 

 .September the acidity ranged from -87 on the 18th to no 

 per cent, on the 15th, and in October from -92 on the 22nd to 

 1*15 per cent, on the 9th. 



This difficulty could only be removed by the discovery 

 of some means of ascertaining accurately the various stages 

 in the progress of the curd which would not depend upon 

 the rule of thumb tests hitherto followed. Air. Lloyd's 

 inquiries were early directed to the solution of this problem, 

 with the result that it has been found thai, all those conditions 

 which the cheese maker formerly had to judge by taste or 

 smell are chemical conditions, which may be estimated with 

 greater precision by means of an acidimeter. Thus, it appears 

 that the fitness of the curd to settle in scald is coincident 

 with the whey attaining an acidity approaching the acidity 

 of the milk before renneting. By the employment of an acidity 



