116 
CItcsliirc Cheese. 
cbeese, as i: may now be termed) is got under the press ; that is, 
when it is removed from the screw to the stone press : but where 
the lever press is used instead of the screw, which, I think, might 
always be advantageously done, all the change that will now be 
required is a little more v.eight at the end of the lever. 
Before turning the cheese for the purpose of placing it under 
the press, it is usual to prick it perpendicularly down with a 
skewer in several places, for the purpose of making drains for the 
whey, after having been so turned. A clean cloth is applied, and 
where the lever press is not used the cheese is put under one of the 
lightest of the other kind. A pressure of six, eiarht, or ten cwt., 
according to the size of the cheese, will be sufficient. This is 
generally accomplished by about two or three o'clock in the after- 
noon. Smaller skewers are now used, and remain (bv removing 
them occasionally into fresh places) until about four o'clock : they 
are then withdrawn, but the cheese remains half an hour longer 
undisturbed, to allow the whev to drain from it. It is then, or 
some time in the evening, turned, a clean cloth is put over it, and 
the pressing continued. If the lever press be used, the weight 
may be a little increased. 
On the second day the cheese is generally turned twice or three 
times ; it is also skewered, and clean cloths are used each time of 
turning. I would observe here, that if any of the cloths are used 
again before they have been washed and dried iu the open air, 
great care should be taken that thev be well scalded. The presses 
used for at least the two first days, and, if possible, during the 
whole process, should be situate in the dairy, kitchen, or some 
other moderately tcarm place, otherv.ise the whey will be longer 
in discharging, and more liable on that account, from the acidity 
which it soon acquires, to injure the flavour of the cheese. Ano- 
ther advantage of the lever press is that in cold weather it may be 
easily moved to a sufficiently warm place, which cannot be the 
case with the common presses. These common presses are 
chiefly made of one square block of stone fixed in a wooilen frame, 
but are also made of wooden boxes filled with sljff or other heavy 
material. Thev are generally fixed bv the walls of the dairy, for 
the purpose of being staved to them, and being there most out of 
the way : w hen there is not room in the dairy or kitchen, they are 
placed in the salting room or pantry, which latter places are often 
much too cold for the purpose, as the whey seldom gets thoroughly 
extracted when the presses are in cold situations. 
On the third da>/, the cheese is again turned once or twice, but 
ought not to require any skewering. The heaviest press is now 
had recourse to, and for a cheese of 60 lbs. or 70 lbs. weight about 
30 cict. will be pressure sufficient; but some dairy-maids apply as 
much as two tons, their heaviest press being that weight. A cheese- 
