Cheshire Cheese. 
109 
thence called maw-skins or hac/sldns. A recipe for preserving the 
skins will be found in the Appendix. To define the quantity of 
rennet sufficient for coagulating a given quantity of milk is a very 
difficult matter, as the maw-skins vary so much in quality. When 
the farmer is laying in a stock for the year, he generally calculates 
upon a dozen of skins to a ton of cheese, but the skins vary in 
size (the price when cured is from Os. to 95. per dozen). In using 
them, it is the practice often to cut two skins at once. Three 
square inches taken from the bottom (or strongest part) of one, 
and one or two inches from the top (or weakest part) of the other, 
is generally found sufficient for sixty gallons of milk. These two 
pieces of skin are put into a cup containing about half a pint of 
luke-warm water, with the addition of a tea-spoonful of salt, some 
part of the day previous to being used. The water thus impreg- 
nated with the maw-skin is passed through the sieve into the milk, 
but the skin itself is generally, though not always, kept out. The 
rennet cup is well scalded before being used again. I have been 
told that some farmers make a sufficiently large quantity of rennet 
to last for several weeks, and find it to answer better than making 
a small quantity daily. The question is, will it keep sweet ? 
The colouring and rennet having been put in, the milk is well 
stirred and left to coagulate. It is usual to invert the skimming- 
dish on the surface of the milk — a practice of doubtful propriety, 
for this reason, that the curd immediately under it does not attain 
the same adhesiveness as the other, and is one of the causes of 
what is commonly called slip curd. The tub is now covered up, 
either with a wooden lid, or with cloths supported by the '• cheese 
ladder;" these assist in preserving the heat of the milk, and pro- 
tect it from dust and dirt. 
The coagulation (or "coming") is generally effected in an hour 
or an hour and a half. As far as my own observations extend, I 
am led to think that an average of these two is sufficiently long, if 
the proper means are used in effecting the formation of the curd : 
for it is well known that, ceteris ])aribus, the warmer the milk is 
at the time of setting together, or the stronger the rennet, the 
sooner will the coagulation take place, but the curd will in con- 
sequence be tougher and less in quantity ; on the contrary, the 
cooler the milk, or the weaker the rennet, the longer will the curd 
be in forming, and the more tender its quality, but its quantity 
will be greater. By attention to these results the cheesemaker 
may soon decide when too much or too little rennet has been put 
in the milk, and correct the quantity the next time. It may be 
proper here to state that too much rennet has a tendency to impart 
an unpleasant flavour, or bitterness, to the cheese. 
It may generally be expected that the heat of the curd when 
formed will be four or five degrees less than the milk was when 
