2 so On Cheese-making in Home Dairies and in Factories. 
the cheese-tub, the mass in the tub being carefully stirred tlie 
while, and for 15 minutes longer. It is now allowed to settle 
for another quarter of an hour, after which a portion of the whev 
is removed from the tub to the whey-tank, and a second lot of 
whey, also brought to 130^, is poured into the cheese-tub, the 
maker stirring and then allowing it to settle as before. Another 
portion of whey is then removed from the tub to the tank, 
and a third lot of whey, which has been heated to 140°, is now 
poured into the tub in the same way as the two previous lots. 
When this last lot of hot whey is in the tub the maker disr 
continues stirring, and the mass is allowed to settle for about 
20 minutes. The curd and whey in the cheese-tub should at 
this time be about 100°. The whey is then removed from 
the tub to the tank, and the curd cut up and placed in the 
centre of the tub in such a way as to give the greatest facility 
for all the whey to run from it. When the curd has some- 
what dried itself, say in about 45 minutes, it is broken by the 
hand into pieces about the size of an orange, put in com- 
paratively thin vats, and removed to the press. It will now be 
about noon. The curd is allowed to remain in the press until 
about 3 P.M., when it is removed, ground down, and salted ; 
about 2^ lbs. salt to the cwt. being used. The ground curd is 
now allowed to remain in the cooler for about two hours, 
being turned occasionally during the time. At the expiration 
of the above time the curd is re-vatted in larger vats and removed 
to the press, where it remains till the following morning. The 
cheeses are then taken from the vats, turned over, clean cloths 
being put on them, re-vatted, and again removed to the presses. 
On the third morning the same process is gone through, and 
again on the fourth, with the exception now of covering the 
cheeses, instead of the ordinary turning cloth, with the thin 
tight cloths which are to remain on them when in the cheese-room. 
The cheeses are then taken from the press, bandaged, and re- 
moved to the cheese-room. The young cheeses should be turned 
over every day for the first week, afterwards not quite so fre- 
quently, and as they get older the less turning they w^ll require. 
The whey-tank referred to in this description is the vessel in 
which the whey is kept until the following day, when the cream 
is removed from it, and the whey is allowed to run into the cistern 
in the hogs'-house. 
The quantity of butter made per cow in good Somersetshire 
dairies does not exceed half a pound weekly during the summer 
months. In the months of March and April, when cattle are 
feeding on hay and artificial foods, much more butter is taken 
from the milk. The milk is also naturally not so rich in curd 
as in the summer months, conse(][uently a poorer but nice- 
