Typical harms in Cheshire and North Wales. 
575 
then it is passed through the curd mill, the salt well mixed and filled 
into the hoops in the interior of which a cloth has been placed; and it 
is then carried to the press-house and placed in the cheese oven, where it 
is kept warm to promote drainage. At night it is turned into a clean 
dry cloth and put hack in the oven ; next morning it is again turned and 
put under press, where it remains four or five days, or until dry, being 
turned each morning into a dry cloth. When taken from under press 
a calico binder is pasted on it, and it is carried away to the curing 
room. Each end is rubbed twice with soft grease like the fat of 
bacon, or oiled with linseed-oil twice to prevent the rind cracking, after 
which it is turned daily for the first few days, then every other day for 
a month, then twice a week for the ensuing month, when it should be ready 
for sale. 
General Management of Dairy Herds in Cheshire. 
The milking cows are usually housed at night from the early 
half of October onwards. As a rule, they run in the daytime on 
the pastures until Christmas, and are then kept in the byres 
altogether until about the first week in May, when they leave 
the stalls, and are depastured on the grass land till the following 
October. They are fed according to the position they occupy 
relative to immediate profit. The cows are dried six weeks or 
two months prior to calving, and at this stage are kept on straw 
with a few roots. After calving, their diet is more generous, 
and they have, in addition, hay which is frequently chaffed, and 
mixed corn, and linseed or cotton cake, varying from -3 to 6 or 
7 lb. per day, in accordance with the views of the owner. Oats, 
bran, thirds flour, and Indian meal are more or less used, 
according as they are respectively considered best and most 
economical. The herd is timed to commence calving in 
November, but the larger proportion of calves are designedly 
dropped in the early spring, viz., in February and March. The 
allowance of corn and cake is continued after the cows are 
turned out, varying according to the abundance or scarcity ox 
keep, and the nature of the season. In the autumn, and at 
the commencement of winter, as already stated, it is sometimes 
discontinued for a period. The practice varies with regard to 
the disposal of the surplus cows annually removed from the herd 
to make room for the incoming heifers. Some farmers sell 
them as stores, others fatten them for the butcher. Rejection is 
based first on deficiencies, and then on age. Cows are con- 
sidered at their best after the birth of the third calf, and they 
are not often kept over six years old. 
The calves are usually sold within a few days of birth at 
whatever price they will realise — this season the low figure 
of, say, an average of 15s. each — the milk being of more value 
for disposal otherwise than in feeding the calf. The heifer 
