Cheshire Cheese. 
113 
proportion of salt Avhich would answer the pur])ose best, which 
there doubtless is, why not .-vscertain and adopt it ? 
" In all dairies" (says Mr. VVcdofe, the author of the original 
'Report of the Agriculture of Cheshire,' written many years ago, 
but still equally true) "the same points are admitted to be essen- 
tial, but although the means of obtaining those are, upon farms 
simdarly circumstanced, so far alike, as to differ materially in the 
minutiic only, yet upon these minutiae much of the art of cheese- 
making depends. 
" That an exact uniformity does not prevail in every part of the 
process, is no wonder ; for there is not any of the business which 
is conducted in a dairy which tends to chemical exactness. Where 
there is no precision, there can be no just comparison ; and where 
no comparison can be made, there exists no foundation for an 
attempt at uniformity. The degree of heat at setting the milk to- 
gether is never measured, the quantity of steep is guessed at, and its 
quality not exactly known; the quantity of salt necessary is unde- 
fined, and the sweating or fermenting of the cheese, when made, is 
accidental^ 
As an antiseptic, a certain quantity of salt is necessary : it is 
the same in this respect with cheese as it is with butter or bacon. 
There may be, and no doubt are, differences of opinion, both 
amongst makers and consumers of cheese, as to the degree of 
saltness which is best; and it may be necessary, in order to suit 
the palates of the many, that there should be a variety. I am 
willing to admit the force of the argument, so far, that thei-e might 
be these shades of difference in different dairies, but think that 
they ought not to exist in one and the same dairy. Each maker 
strives at uniformity as regards the thickness and colour of his 
cheese, and would like also to attain uniformity in flavour if he 
could. Why not, therefore, measure or weigh the salt before 
using; regulating the same by the quantity of milk or the weight 
or quantity of curd ?* The former would easily be ascertained by 
means of a gauge, or graduated rod, which any farmer might 
make for himself, to suit his own cheese-tub. The way to make 
it would be to pour into the tub a gallon of water, or any liquid, 
and then to note its height, and mark it on the rod. This being 
done, put in another gallon and again mark the height, and so on 
until the tub is full; taking care afterwards to introduce the rod 
into the same part of the tub, as the bottoms are not often level. 
* Since writing the above I have learnt that a farmer in South Cheshire, 
well known for his introduction of improvements in agriculture, has 
commenced the system of weighing his curd previous to salting it, and he 
says he uses salt in the proportion of 1 lb. to 42 lbs. of cuid. He also 
informs me he sets his milk tou;ether by a thermometer, and at a tempera- 
ture ol' 7(i^ or 77'^.— Way, 18451 
vol,. VI. I 
