Tlie Fradicc of Cheddar Cheese Malcing. 
423 
end of August. The night's milk is skimmed, and the cream 
put in with the milk to be heated in a tin vessel called a 
warmer, surrounded by hot water in the open boiler, referred 
to as being in the boiler-house, and in which the whey is also 
heated. Particular care must be taken not to exceed a tem- 
perature of 95°. By this the united milk should be raised to 
84°; but by the end of June it can be reduced to 82°. A 
little sour whey may be added in the earlier and latter months, 
but its regular use cannot be recommended. 
When annatto is used, it must be well stirred in, and 
sufficient rennet added to coagulate the milk in sixty minutes. 
The thorough mixing of the milk and rennet is very important, 
and should occupy about ten minutes, not only for its thorough 
incorporation, but also to prevent the cream rising to the 
surface. The tub should then be covered over till coagulation 
is complete, in order to guard against a too rapid fall in the 
temperature of the milk. By the time the curd will break clean 
over a tubular thermometer, the delicate operation of breaking 
should begin. This is facilitated by the use of a thin knife, long 
enough to reach the bottom of the tub, for cutting the curd into 
squares of about two inches. 
It should then be left a few minutes to harden and for 
the whey to separate, when, by the use of a shovel-breaker, 
the splitting of the curd in its own grain commences. This at 
first must be done with the greatest caution, or the whey will get 
white and loss of quality ensue ; but the speed should increase as 
the curd hardens — always taking care that it is regularly broken, 
and not smashed, until it is the size of a pea, and the whey 
of a greenish hue ; the time of this operation depends somewhat 
upon the quantity dealt with, but it should take from fifty to sixty 
minutes. The mass is now allowed to settle for ten minutes, 
when with a syphon sufficient whey is drawn off, which, when 
heated to not more than 130°, would raise the whole to 90°. 
During the application of this whey the curd must be well 
stirred and mixed. A further rest of ten minutes takes place, 
when enougli whey is drawn off for heating to 130°, and that in 
the tub lowered till it only covers the curd by about two inches. 
The heated whey is poured in a small stream over the curd, 
the operator taking the utmost care that the whole mass is 
thoroughly broken up and incorporated with it, the thermometer 
being frequently used, until it stands at 100°, the limit desired; 
but the stirring must be continued until the curd becomes shotty 
and is disposed to sink, the whey showing above it clear and 
green. 
This operation takes from ten to thirty minutes, but if the 
