The Practice of Cheshire Cheese Making. 
435 
arrange to have the night's milk at a temperature of 64° to 66° F. 
in the morning, to skim it and to add the cream and morning's 
milk, and set together at 86° F., using enough rennet to produce a 
curd ready to cut in forty-five minutes ; then to break down the 
curd to the size of small peas ; after settling, to draw the whey 
as soon as possible, to prevent much acidity developing ; then to 
place it on the draining racks, and to cut and turn several 
times, leaving the salting until the curd is ready to grind, when 
it is passed through the curd mill, and salt used in the proportion 
of 8 oz. to 20 lbs. of curd.' It is then filled in hoops, previously 
lined with a cheese cloth, and carried to the press-house, being 
turned over at night and again next morning. A light weight 
of ^ or I cwt. is then applied, and continued for three days. Then 
it is put under press for two days more, being turned each 
morning, when it is taken away if the drainage has ceased or 
not, bound, and carried to the cheese-room and treated like other 
cheese. The object is to produce an open flaky curd, in which 
little acidity is developed, but which at the same time is dry 
enough to ensure its proper ripening. It is preferred that the 
cheese should not have ceased dripping when it comes from 
under press, for if it has, it is an evidence that too much acidity 
is present, and that consequently the curd will be close, and it 
is known that the gi'owth of the mould or " fade " is very much 
checked by a texture of that kind. 
The green fade is a minute fungus growth, the spores of 
which are, no doubt, received in the milk from the air in the 
same way as the germs of the lactic ferment. Like other fungi, 
they only live and increase when they find conditions suitable to 
their development, and these are present in a cheese made on 
this method ; whereas in cheese made on the other methods 
described, there is too much acidity in the early ripening 
process, and too close a texture in the medium and late pro- 
cesses. This class of cheese is generally purchased in a new 
state, and the buyers complete the ripening in the warm cellars of 
their own warehouses, often obtaining a profit of 15s. to 20s. per 
cwt., from which has to be deducted the loss in weight, and a 
percentage for faulty cheeses which refuse to go faded and which 
are cleared below cost price. Other makers mature it in their own 
rooms and reap the full benefit of their skill. 
It will be seen that there is a decided difference between the 
methods of making. In the early ripening system a larger quantity 
of rennet is used, more acidity is developed, and less pressure 
' Part of the curd is kept over each day to mix the following day with the 
new curd at the time of siting, the proportion being 1 to 6 in svunmer and 
1 to 4 in autumn. 
