1804.] 
AMKRICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
235 
them so thai if rolled straight as they stand on 
the wagon, each wheel would roll to the center 
of the track in going from eight to ten rods. 
Thi9 is done to have the wheels crowd the 
"shoulder" instead ofthe "burr," or liheh-pin. 
Now I submit to any candid mind whether it 
takes more power to roll the wheel the eight or 
ten rods, or shove it sidewiso the two feet three 
inches. There is then a loss of power which 
certainly adds much to the burthen sustained by 
the team. In the wagon described, all this is 
saved by the wheels moving in a straight lino 
without "gather." 
Every wheel and axle is a lever or system of 
levers and a fulcrum, no matter where or how 
they be used. The outer edge is the long arm of 
the lever or where power is applied (as in a wa- 
ter-wheel) ; the center is the fulcrum, and the 
friction is at the lower side of the axle, between 
the fulcrum and power (the ground is the power ; 
the friction, the weight). In the new plan, the 
friction is on the top of the axle, and the spokes 
being two inches longer, there is an advantage 
of about six inches in leverage; the fulcrum is 
placed between the power and weight— anoth- 
er mechanical advantage. In addition to this, 
the upper side of the axle acts on the rollers or 
small wheels, oue foot in diameter, and these 
turn round but thirty-two times in a mile, thus 
operating by a compound lever, and greatly les- 
sening the friction. There is oue wagon in this 
place that has been in almost constant use for 
eight months and has been tested in many ways. 
On a hard, smooth road less than half the pow- 
er will draw it with or without a load ; in 
muddy or bad roads it requires about two thirds 
the team that would he required were a common 
wagou used to draw an equal load. There 
is no piece of mechanism in use among civilized 
men more useful than a wagon, and I have given 
you this imperfect description to invite talent in 
this direction : though this is a decided improve- 
ment, yet there is a chance for still further im- 
provement. Will not mechanics look into this, 
and at least compete in manufacturing?" 
Cheese-Making in Small Dairies. 
So much has been said lately about the Fac- 
tory system of cheese-making, -and the products* 
of a few large dairies, that we lose sight of 
the multitute of small dairies of a dozen cows 
or less, which supply no unimportant share of 
all the cheese for market, and especially for 
home consumption. There are many persons 
who regard cheese-making as a mysterious art, 
and for fear of failure do not undertake it. 
There is to be sure a great advantage in expe- 
rience, and this every dairywoman must gain 
for herself, nevertheless there need he little fear 
of wasting much milk, when a common sense 
woman attempts to make cheese, even on a 
small scale. If any one is about to undertake 
to make cheese and has no previous knowledge 
of the subject, it would of course be best for 
her to visit some good dairy- and learn what 
she can from the dairy-women, before undertak- 
ing it on her own account. The kind of cheese 
usually made in the United States is what would 
be called " English " cheese. Though there are 
many different kinds made in England, the 
cheeses of that country differ so much from 
those of the continent, that ours would be clas- 
sified with them. As to the production of the 
cheese closely resembling those of continental 
Europe — Dutch, French, German, Swiss, etc., of 
which there are probably 50 entirely distinct 
kinds — we conceive that there is no difficulty at 
all; and moreover assure our readers of foreign 
birth and training, that even passable imitations 
of those kinds Which are imported would meet 
a ready sale at high prices. 
Without discussing the economy of making 
cheese from a very small number of cows, we 
merely now consider the method and results. 
The following process is usually adopted. The 
night's milk is set in shallow tin pans in a cool 
place. Butter being an object as well as chee e, 
the milk should not be more than two or three 
inches deep. In the morning, while the milk- 
ing is going on, the night's milk is skimmed and 
warmed in a brass kettle to the temperature of 
new milk. The new milk having been brought 
in, old and new are then mixed in a tub of suit- 
able size. (If the weather is so cool that the 
milk will not sour, it may be kept over one day, 
and there will be three milkings of old and one 
of new milk.) "When the milk is thus made 
ready the " cheese is set," that is, the rennet is 
added, and it is allowed to stand quietly for half 
an hour, for the " curd to come." Arnotto also 
is added for coloring, if desired. The rennet 
consists of the salted and dried stomach of the 
calf. This is prepared for use by soaking in 
water or whey in the "rennet pot." The quan- 
tity of the liquid required to "bring the curd" 
is fixed by trial, and more is added, if it does 
not coagulate in time. When the curd has 
" come," it is carefully cut across both ways with 
a one bladed wooden knife, or better with one 
of steel with four blades. It is then allowed to 
stand for the whey to separate, which is slowly 
dipped off, and the curd gently worked with 
the hand to favor the separation of the whey. 
To make the curd more firm, some of the whey 
is warmed in a kettle and poured upon the curd 
again. This is what is called " scalding the 
cheese," a misnomer to which must be charged 
more poor cheese than to any other cause, ex- 
cept perhaps the neglect to cleanse properly all 
the dairy utensils. The whey for " scalding " 
should be only slightly warm to the hand, that 
is, not much more than 100° F. The hotter 
the whey is, the less time is required for the 
operation, hence there is a temptation to employ 
hot whey instead of that moderately warm only, 
as just stated. When this process is completed, 
the curd is dipped into a strainer, spread in an 
open basket or box for salting. Then more 
whey drains out and salt is added, nearly one 
ounce to ten pounds of curd, and thoroughly 
mixed.- It is now ready for the press, or it may 
be wrapped in the strainer, a weight placed 
upon it and kept to go with the next day's curd 
to make a " double curded cheese." 
When this is desired, the curd thus prepared, 
and not salted, is kept until the new curd is 
ready, and then it is cut very fine and mixed 
with it. Some prefer to take the curd when 
ready for scalding, and hang it up to drain in a 
strainer. This curd cut up fine is added to the 
new curd, when both are " scalded " and salted. 
A cap fitting the inside of the press-hoop, or a 
strainer cloth is used to hold the curd when it 
is put in the press for pressing. It is changed 
at the end of twelve or twenty four hours, the 
edges if necessary are pared and again pressed. 
The pressure, either from a lever or screw, 
should be light at first, but afterwards veiy 
heavy. When the cheese comes from the 
press, it should be capped with thin cotton 
cloth made for the purpose ; or these caps are 
pressed in. Repeated turnings, greasings, and 
rubbings to keep the cheese from mould and 
from getting out of shape while curing, com- 
plete the process. The temperature of the curing 
room has much influence on the cheese. A 
kitchen is rather loo warm, and in a cold, damp 
i""in they cure too slowly and are apt to mould. 
Now in this way just as good cheese for eating 
is ma ile in dairies from two to six cows as in 
those of greater pretensions; in fact, some of the 
best cheese the- writer has ever eaten was made 
from the milk of two cow9. Some of the most 
successful] dairy women too, have been tl 
who have taken up the business without pre- 
vious training, but possessed of good sense and 
babits of neatness ; they hare mastered all the 
"mysteries of cheese making," so that a "huffy 
cheese" or a "cracked cheese," or a "sour 
cheese," or a "strong cheese," or a "white 
oak cheese" was unknown on their shelves. 
A Woman's Experience with a Kicking 
Heifer. 
Dear Agriculturist. — I'm a very green 
farmeress, on a little place of twenty acres, and 
"no man to it" but my father, most eighty years 
old,— a doctor all his life at that. With a little 
help about the frame I have made a hot bed 
after your model, and am right proud of the 
cabbages, cauliflowers, cucumbers, Sec, started 
in it, and my Hubbard squashes are charming. 
I venture to send you a brief notice of my 
experience in milking a heifer that had an un- 
fortunate way of lifting her foot, disastrous in 
its consequences, and my remedy for it, which 
I have not noticed in the Agriculturist. 
" Daisy " is a heifer four }'ears old, worth 
about one hundred dollars, but not for sale at 
that, or any price. She wasn't used to women, 
and I — wasn't used to cows. I learned to milk 
in one lesson, on a gentle old cow in the neigh- 
borhood, but I was mortally afraid of Daisy, 
and she would empty the contents of the pail 
over me, and send me flying like a foot ball or 
any other projectile. Now I'm nothing if not 
dignified ; I was once introduced to a candidate 
for the Presidency, and to be manufactured in- 
to a sort of shooting star, in a milky way, was 
depressing in the extreme. I perused the Agri- 
culturist, and got a man to tie her fore foot up, 
whereupon she laid down — other remedies 
proved ineffectual, or were not suited to the 
case, when almost in despair I learned that 
somebody tied the two hind legs together. — I 
double a bit of rope, a little more than a yard 
and a half long, tie a knot in the middle-noose 
around one leg just above the foot, and tie the 
other with the ends of the rope. She can't kick, 
how can she? It doesn't seem to hurt her feel- 
ings in the least, putting on, or taking off, or 
wearing it, and I milk in peace, and wish the 
remed}' may do any one else as much good as 
it has me. I must add, that Daisy and I are 
on the best of terms now. R. F. II. 
" Dirt Floors " for Stables. — In summer 
the feet of horses which are little used, or those 
used only upon hard pavements or dry roans, 
often become very dry, hard and hot, especially 
if they stand upon wood or stone floors. The 
wood floors are not only- dry lwt they absorb 
urine, which decomposes, evolves ammonia, and 
promotes this effect. An approved remedy 
for this is to take up the wood and lay a stone 
floor of small cobble-stones in cement, slanting 
slightly to the rear; then to fill in the stall 6 
inches deep at the rear, with sand or sandy 
loam, leaving it slanting to the front. Enough 
of this should be removed and renewed daily 
to give the horse a bed of clean, dry, but not 
drying, sand. Little bedding will be needed, 
and the feet will soon gain a natural moistness. 
