practised on the four Prize Dairy Farms. 41 
a large amount of labour. I saw Mr. Long watching the trial of 
churns at the Bristol Show with very considerable interest. The 
use of the butter-working machine exhibited there would mate- 
rially Assist Mrs. Long. The price of Gloucester cheese will 
not compare favourably with that of the Cheddar, but Mrs. 
Long makes a large quantity of butter, and thinks it an equi- 
valent. The milk is set together in the morning at 80°, and 
left an hour to coagulate, when it is broken and the heat raised 
to 100° by the aid of a small steam-boiler, which Mr. Long has 
had fixed under his own superintendence, with a good deal of 
mechanical skill, and which is well suited for the purpose. 
The surplus steam in cold weather is utilised for warming 
the cheese-room. The whey is heated to nearly 100°, the 
curd being constantly stirred while being heated, and the whey 
afterwards drawn off for butter-making and pig-feeding. The 
curd, after the whey is drawn off", is ground, and salted at the 
rate of 1 lb. of salt to 56 lbs. of curd, that is for the thick cheese ; 
the thin cheese is salted under press by rubbing the salt over 
the outside every morning when the cheeses are turned. The 
whole of the dairy department is excellently managed, and is 
most creditable to Mrs. Long. 
The dairy management on Hill House Farm, the Second- 
Prize Farm in Class 4, will compare very favourably with 
any in Somersetshire, and any practical cheese-maker having 
the privilege of seeing Mrs. Hoddinott's daily management would 
derive pleasure and profit therefrom, and would find in Mrs. 
Hoddinott a lady who is not only courteous and communicative 
but eminently practical. Though not having the best accommo- 
dation, she produces the best results, as the many prizes her 
cheeses have gained fully testify. The dairy is detached from the 
house a considerable distance from the cow-sheds, and the curing- 
rooms are some distance from the dairy, all these disadvantages 
involving extra labour. The curing-rooms have been adapted 
from loose boxes to their present purpose. Some of the best 
cheeses we saw were made on this farm. The round tub is 
used, similar in construction to those already described, and hav- 
ing a gauge for registering the quantity of milk. The rennet is 
added in a fixed proportion ; in fact, the whole process is carried 
on by strict rules. The liquid rennet is used, and is spoken 
highly of; the dried veils seem quite a thing of the past. The 
quantity of rennet used is next in importance to the quantity of 
salt, as too much renders the cheese tough and unpalatable, 
affecting the flavour ; and too little causes considerable loss, by 
not separating all the caseine or cheese from the milk. The heat 
of the milk before the rennet is added varies slightly according 
to the season, being 82° in early spring and autumn, and 80° irt 
