223 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 
Irish calves, which arc killed at about a week old, are preferred, and they 
should be eighteen months old before use. The curd is slowly cut with a 
single long blade to and fro throughout its depth, in lines forming a 4-inch 
mesh upon the surface,, and the whole mas3 is gently turned over from 
the bottom with a skimming dish and the hand. The whole is then again 
worked throughout with a “shovel breaker,” a four-fingered paddle with 
wires across the fingers — great care being taken to do it gently, so that 
the whey shall not become too white. The curd is thus broken up into 
pieces not much larger than peas, and at least half an hour is taken in 
the process. Hot water is then let into the space around and bolow the 
cheese tub, and tho whole is raised to 100 deg. Fahr. ; and this, too, is 
done gradually, so as to raise tho -whole by degrees, not heating any 
portion to excess. This also takes half an hour. The hot water is then 
drawn off, and tho curd is stirred by the hand and a skimming dish for 
another half hour in the midst of its hot whey, being at last reduced to 
a mass of separate bits the size of small peas. The whey, after settling 
for half an hour, is then removed — ladled, syphonod, or drawn — to its 
vat, "where it stands about six inches deep, and is skimmed next day,' 
yielding a butter, which should not exceed in quantity six to eight ounces 
per cow per week. 
The curd stands half an hour after the whey is drawn off, and it is then 
cut in four or five pieces, turned over and left for half an hour, after which 
it is again cut and left for a quarter of an hour. After this, it should bo 
in the slightest degree acid to the taste. If allowed to become too acid, 
it Avill not pres3 into a solid, well-shaped cheese, but will be apt to sink 
broad misshapen. It is now tom into pieces by hand and left to cool: 
and thereafter it is packed in successive thin layers in the vat— a cylindrical 
or wooden vessel twelve inches or more wide and twelve inches deep — • 
whence, after being pressed for half an hour, it is taken out (it is then 
probably midday,) and broken up by hand, and allowed again to cool. 
Then, when cool, and hard, and sour, and dry, and tough enough, (all 
this, of course, being left to the judgment of the maker), it is ground up 
in the curd mill ; two pounds of salt are added to the cwt. of curd, and 
ithe Avhole is tdlowed to cool, and as soon as cold, it is put in the vat, and 
taken to press. It is then probably 3 p. m. Tho pressure on the cheeso 
may be 18 cwt. The cloth is changed next morning. A calico coating is 
laced >n it the second day, and the third day tho cheeso may be taken 
from the press, placed in the cheese room, bandaged, and turned daily, 
and afterwards less frequently. The cheeso room should be kept at nearly 
C5 degrees Fahr. The cheese will not be ready for sale for three months. 
The process lasts nearly all tho day, but it is believed to produce tho 
host cheeso in the world ; and its use is everywhere extending. Taking 
