420 
The Practice of Cheddar Cheese Muldng. 
stone or sandstone formations. Also tliat a higher temperature 
is required where cows drink soft than where they drink hard 
water. 
The first essential is pure sweet milk of good quality ; 
and to be pure and sweet not only must the dairy and its 
surroundings be scrupulously clean, and no part of it used, as is 
too often the case, as a larder or store for vegetables, paraffin, 
&c., but the cow-houses must be well cleaned and ventilated. 
Above all, the udders and teats of the cows, and the hands of the 
milkers, must be thoroughly washed before milking, and the 
greatest care taken to prevent any impurities getting into the 
milk. This cannot be insisted upon too strongly, as there is not 
the slightest doubt but that large quantities of milk are thus 
irretrievably ruined for the making of fine cheese before coming 
into the dairy, and it is only by the most strict and constant 
supervision that this can be prevented. 
It is not necessary that the dairy, and other offices connected 
with, and indispensable to it, should be expensive erections. I 
will give my idea of a complete practical dairy for cheese-making ; 
but the possession of it is no guarantee that fine cheese will be 
made — or its absence, that such will not be made. 
The best and most convenient position for a farm-house 
dairy is on the north side of the house, and parallel to it, but con- 
nected by a covered passage six feet wide : thus the coolest site 
is secured, and ease of access, with complete ventilation, obtained. 
The dairy room should be the one nearest the dwelling, and, if 
fi'om fifty to sixty cows are kept, be at le.ast 8 yai'ds by 5, and 
10 feet high. The walls should be well built of brick or stone, 
with glazed windows on the north, south, and east, 4 feet by 3 
feet each, having sliding casements, and protected on the outside 
by finely perforated zinc. The floor should be of concrete, well- 
laid pavement, with cemented joints, or York stone. 
The boiler-house, in which all utensils are cleaned, should 
adjoin the dairy on the west, and it should be 7 yards by 5 in 
size ; the floor should be equally as good as that in the dairy, 
and the windows of like dimensions and character. Provision 
is easily made for the escape of steam by ventilators placed 
under the wall-plate. There should be an open boiler (with a 
water-tap), placed as low as possible on the left hand of the door 
from the dairy, and capable of containing from thirty to forty 
gallons ; and if its cover be jolaced on hinges, it can, by a 
balanced weight connected by a cord passing over two small 
pulleys, be most easily raised or lowered. On the north side of 
the boiler-house is the best position for the whey-room, say 5 
yards by 2^, well ventilated by windows east and west, and at a 
