106 
Cheshire Cheese. 
The utensils, excepting those I have describedj will be noticed 
hereafter. 
Process of Cheese-making. — As the first process — namely, 
that of extracting the whey and salting — occupies, according to 
circumstances, from five to seven hours, it is found most con- 
venient to commence it in the morning. This being the case, the 
evening's milk has to be kept all night in the milk-house. In the 
morning, the cream having been skimmed off, a portion of this 
milk is warmed. This is done in a circular flat-bottomed brass or 
tin pan (see a, fig. 4), floated in the boiler, the water of which 
has been previously heated for that purpose : the size of this pan 
is about 20 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep. The quantity 
to be warmed depends upon the state of the weather ; for the first 
two or three months of the season (say March, April, and May) 
it is not unusual to heat as much as half the evening's milk to a 
temperature of 100" Fahrenheit, and this heat is rarely exceeded, 
excepting by those dairymaids who wish to save themselves trou- 
ble in the after process. The " cheese-tub," which is similar to a 
brewing-tub, having been placed in readiness in the dairy, the 
cold milk is now put in and the warm added. Supposing the 
temperature of the cold milk to be about 50°, and the warm 100°, 
and they were in equal proportions, the heat after mixing would 
be 75°, or something less ; but in warm weather it will be suffi- 
cient if it reaches 70°. I have known instances of good cheese 
being made in summer without warming any portion of the even- 
ing's milk, indeed such now is becoming the general practice. 
In very warm weather some dairy-maids think it necessary to 
reduce even the temperature of the morning's milk. The cream, 
which is diluted either in about double its quantity of warm or 
new milk, or by being exposed to the heat of the boiler in the 
same way as the milk, is next put in. I have before stated that 
it is customary to retain a small part of the cream for butter : 
when this is the case, it is considered best to skim it off the 
whole surface of the cream before diluting, as by that means 
the froth and bubbles, which are supposed to be prejudicial 
to the cheese, will, for the most part, be taken off. This leads 
me to the conclusion that J}.red air, if it gets mixed in' the 
curd, has been found to be detrimental. Since warming of fluids 
has a tendency to dispel this fixed air, it is perhaps worthy of con- 
sideration whether it would not be better to warm the lohole of the 
evening's milk to the required temperature, rather than heating a 
pai-t of it so high as i 00°. The process adopted with the even- 
ing's milk, as above described, is generally finished previous to 
the time of milking in the morning; but if not, the dairy-maid 
stops and completes it before the new milk is brought in from the 
cows. This new or morning's milk is then added by passing it 
