The Practice of Cheshire Cheese Making. 
427 
XXIII. The Practice of Cheshire Cheese Mailing. By Joseph 
RiGBY, Stanthorne, Middlewich, 
There are three different modes of clieese-making followed in 
Cheshire, known as (1) the earhj ripening, (2) the medium ripen- 
ing, and (3) the late ripening processes. There is also a method 
of making which produces a cheese that is permeated with 
"green mould" when ripe, called "Stilton Cheshire": this, 
however, is confined to limited districts in the county. 
The early ripening method is generally followed in the spi'ing 
of the year until the middle or end of April ; the medium pro- 
cess from that time until late autumn ; or until early in J une, 
when the late ripening process is adopted and followed until the 
end of September, changing again to the medium process as the 
season advances. The late ripening process is not found to be 
suitable to follow in the spring or late autumn. 
The premises required for making and ripening cheese are a 
dairy, a press-house, and a curing or ripening room. The dairy 
should be constructed with a view to preserve an equable tem- 
perature, and to give ample ventilation from floor to ceiling. It 
should have a northerly aspect, and the windows should be as 
far as possible from any place from which foul smells may pro- 
ceed. The floor should be of hard tiles, set in cement, and the 
drainage planned so as to avoid smells and back draughts. 
On no account should the floor be lower than the land on which 
it is built, for dampness and wet walls are thus produced, which 
are most undesirable. The press-house should be of similar con- 
struction to the dairy, and should contain a " cheese-oven " — a 
chamber built in one of the walls in which the newly made 
cheese is put the first day. It should be arranged so that it 
can be heated by a flue passing under the bottom to keep 
ib at a temperature of 70° to 73° F. A room on the first 
floor with a southern aspect is best adapted for a curing-room. 
It should be free from draughts, and the windows should be 
fitted with shutters, to darken it. The temperature of the dairy 
should be about G0°, of the press house G5° to 70°, and of the 
curing room 55° to 65° F. 
The utensils requisite are a milk vat, curd knives, curd mill, 
cheese moulds, cheese hoops, cheese stools, curd shovels, cheese 
presses, milk pails, pans, &c. The milk vat is an oblong vessel, 
about 20 inches deep and 30 inches wide, mounted on four wheels, 
and suited in size to the number of cows kept. It is double- 
cased, the inner case being of best steel ; the space between, about 
2 inches, being adapted to fill Avith cold water for cooling the 
milk, or with hot water or .steam for heating it. It is fitted with 
