292 0)1 Clieese-making in Home Dairies and in Factories. 
one of the most important items in cheese-making, its quality being the founda- 
tion of a good or bad cheese, which means a difference of 15s. or 20s. per cwt. 
in the market value. * 
" This matter is of such importance that the greatest care is required in the 
selection of the veils. The best are supplied from Ireland, where many calves 
are killed on the day of their birth, or within a day or two. The veils thus 
obtained are the smallest ; and, unimpaired by age, they retain all their coagu- 
lating properties. 
" When the Irish feed their calves (they kill them at about ten weeks of age) 
the veil is large and fat, and the digestive organs having been called into use 
are, as I believe, impaired and weakened for coagulating purposes, hence. the 
cause of two prices for ' Irish veils ' being quoted in our markets. A large sup- 
ply of this class of ' skins ' comes from Germany also, and the German skins 
are much used in this and neighbouring counties. 
" A vast quantity of cheese is made ' out of flavour,' and this can easily be 
traced to bad rennet. It is remarkable that in the West of England, where 
only the ' best Irish veils ' are used, the average quality of cheese is higher 
than where the second-class skins are used. The demand for this lower class 
of skins is kept up by those cheese-makers who work by the ' rule of thumb ;' 
and when their cheese is 'out of flavour,' or ' loose in texture,' the blame is 
laid on some portion of the land. ' When the cows are feeding in that pasture,' 
it is said, ' the cheese will always heave.' This hasty Conclusion ends their 
investigation ; they never think of looking for the cause elsewhere, much less; 
in the rennet-jar, where the incipient seeds of bad flavour are sure to be found. 
These large, or ' fed veils,' will frequently emit a ' tallow smell ' when kept a 
few weeks after the steep_is made ; probably caused by the decomposition of the 
'milky matter' contained in the veils. At the commencement of this seasov 
the writer bought a few dozen of these inferior skins, and made a ' steep 
from the recipe given below, and all the cheeses made from them were defec i 
tive in flavoitr, and 'characterless.' Knowing that cheese is made in th: 
dairy, and that change of pasture has but little eflect on the quality an< 
flavour of it, he came to the conclusion that the cause of imperfection wa 
more under his immediate control. He soon found the cause in the rennet 
jar. The steep, on being stirred up, liad the appearance of a quantity t 
tallow being mixed with it, caused, no doubt, by the decomposition abov 
alluded to. He had a few days previous ordered a supply of the ' best Iris , 
veils' from Mr. Titley, Bath, at double the cost of the inferior, and as soon£^ 
he could use the ' steep ' made from them by the same recipe, the quality ( 
the cheese improved 4s. per cwt., as the cheese made on the 19th May, ft 
the bad rennet, sold at 80.?., and that made on the following day realised 8 
The following is a recipe for making a perfect rennet: — Mix a brine • 
strong salt and water, sufiicient to float an egg well ; boil half-an-hour ; let 
stand till cold; to two gallons add six veils, one lemon, sliced, and one oun 
of saltpetre. It will be fit to use in a month, and will keep any length of tim 
They have now erected a large and commodious factory ne; 
Mickleover, at which there is accommodation for the milk ■ 
600 or 800 cows. A floor of 60 feet by 28 feet 6 inches, 
provided for the whole working arrangements. There is roo 
lor five vats of the usual size. On one side at the end is tl 
engine-room, 12 feet by 20 feet, and the floor over the who 
is used as a cheese-room ; the whole being warmed by stove 
and the roof, boarded under slate, with sawdust between t" 
two, is of a sufficiently non-conducting material to insure • 
I 
