226 
On Lard Cheese. 
sent system of several vats, all suspected milk may be massed 
together in one vat and made up separately. To this objection, 
some of the cheese-makers present replied that the cheese- 
makers must not accept bad milk, but send it back ; that the 
cheese, under this system, would be uniform for the day, and 
that this would be an advantage, at least. Again, it necessitates 
the additional cost of an engine, as many factories, under the 
present system, use only a boiler. 1 am not disposed, however, 
to criticise or offer objections to what appears to be plainly an 
improvement, and even if I did, some of these would be 
answered, perhaps, by the following claims of the inventor : 
" First, that these vats perform nearly the entire work of 
stirring the curd, during the process of cooking and salting, by 
machinery, dispensing with the use of an extra curd-drainer 
or sink, and doing the work as perfectly as it can be done, and 
much more perfectly than it is usually done by hand. 
" Second, that by their use one man will easily do the work 
of two or three men, using common vats. 
" Third, an increased yield of cheese in consequence of their use." 
These vats appear to be very substantially made, and for per- 
sons about to erect new factories, or renew apparatus, it would 
be well to examine their operation. 
In conclusion, a word may be added in regard to the lard 
•cheese shown me at this establishment. The curing-rooms con- 
tained the September, October, and November makes. Quite a 
number of cheeses of different ages were cut with the "cheese- 
trier's iron," for the inspection and taste of those present. A 
good deal has been said from time to time in the papers about 
lard cheese. 1 have heard dealers speak of it as poor nasty stuff, 
which was doing great injury to the trade — often lying on the 
docks or in the storehouses of New York, unsold and unsaleable, 
except at a price " ruinously low." I have never advocated the 
making of lard cheese, and must confess I have been prejudiced 
against it ; but this should not prevent me from giving a truthful 
account of the cheese offered for my inspection. 
The cheeses bored for us were mellow and clean-flavoured, 
and might be fairly classed, 1 think, under what cheesemongers 
denominate a " useful article." They were not, of course, equal 
to fine whole-milk cheese, but no one (who knew nothing of their 
make) would be disposed to call them " skimmed cheese." Dr. 
Wight and the other experts present agreed with me in this 
opinion, and expressed their surprise that so good an article 
could be made from "blue skimmed milk." But perhaps the 
best proof of what 1 have said is in the sale of the product 
during the past summer. The prices obtained, as 1 was in- 
formed, were within from 1 to 2 cents per lb. of whole-milk 
cheese sold on the Little Falls market. 
