54 
Composition of Cheese. 
bottom of which steam may he let in, and the curd and whey 
be raised by decrees to the desired temperature. Tliis utensil is 
to be strongly recommended to all who adopt the Cheddar mode 
of cheesemaking in theu' dairies. 
Cheese is also spoiled by breaking up the curd too rapidly 
and carelessly. This delicate substance requires to be handled 
by nimble and experienced fingers, and to have a great amount 
of patient labour bestowed upon it. Dairymaids, as a class, 
break up the curd in far too great a hurry. In consequence of 
their careless treatment some portions of the curd are broken into 
fragments so small that they pass into the whey when this is 
drawn off, whilst others are not suffuiently broken up and re- 
main soft. Tlie result is, that the curd is not uniform in texture, 
and that less cheese and of inferior quality is produced than when 
the curd is first cut very gently into large slices and then broken 
up by degrees either by hand or machinery into small fragments. 
The whey which separates from curd that has been gently 
broken up is as bright as Rhenish wine, provided the milk has 
been curdled at the proper temperature by a sufficient quantity 
of good rennet. On the other hand, if the curd has been broken 
up carelessly in too great a hurry, the whey is more or less 
milky, and separates on standing a large quantity of fine curd of 
the choicest character, for this fine curd is very rich in butter. 
Thus the best part of the curd, instead of becoming incor- 
porated with the cheese, finds its way into the whey leads. 
Be the curd, however, broken up ever so gently, and the whey 
drawn off ever so carefully, the latter always throws up, on 
standing, some cream, which it is worth while to make into 
butter. But the quantity of whey-butter made in good dairies is 
very insignificant in comparison with that produced where less 
attention is paid to the breaking of the curd. 1 know it to be a 
fact, that in some dairies four times as much wliey-butter is 
made as in others. Where much Avhey-butter is made, the 
cheese is seldom of first-rate quality. Believing that this is a 
matter of some importance, 1 have visited many dairies, and 
repeatedly watched dairymaids breaking the cui"d, and noticed 
the gentle and patient manner in which a clever woman goes to 
work, and the hurried and dashing proceedings of a slovenly girl. 
On these occasions I have taken samples of the whey, and sub- 
mitted them afterwards to analysis. The results, as recorded in 
the following tables, show how much the whey of different 
dairies varies in chemical composition as well as in physical 
character : — 
