Agriculture is tke most healthful, the most useful, and the most noble employment of man.— Washington. 
VOL. VI. NEW YORK, AUGUST, 1847. NO. VIII. 
A. B. Allen, Editor. 
HOW TO MAKE YEAST. 
Mix two quarts of water with wheat flour to the 
consistence of thick gruel; boil it gently for half 
an hour, and when almost cold, stir into it half a 
pound of sugar, and four table-spoonfuls of good 
yeast. Put the whole into a large jug or earthen 
vessel, with a narrow top, and place it before 
the fire, so that it may, by a moderate heat, fer¬ 
ment. The fermentation will throw up a thin 
liquor, which pour off and throw away; keep for 
use, the remainder in a bottle or jug, in a cool 
place. The same quantity of this, as of common 
yeast, will suffice to bake or brew. Four table¬ 
spoonfuls of this yeast will make a fresh quantity 
as above, and the stock may always be kept up, by 
fermenting the new yeast with the remainder of 
the former quantity. 
For a recipe for making excellent Yeast Cakes , 
see page 128 of our fourth volume. 
CHEESE-MAKING. 
The quality and flavor of cheese vary according 
to the methods employed in its manufacture, and 
the richness of the milk of which it is made. A 
very slight difference in the materials ; the cleanli¬ 
ness of the utensils; the temperature of the milk 
when set; the mode and time of collecting the 
curd before pressing; the salting of the curd; the 
addition of herbs or coloring matter; the degree of 
pressure ; the frequent turning of the cheese while 
on the press; the coating or rubbing of its surface; 
the temperature and airiness of the place of drying; 
and the length of time allowed for maturation, all 
tend to alter its taste and odor, in some or other par¬ 
ticular, and that in a way perceptible to the refined 
palate. The nature of the pasture, or the food on 
which the cows are fed, as well as their particular 
breed, no doubt also tend in some degree to promote 
the same diversity of flavor and quality; but these 
Harper & Brothers, Publishers. 
influences, if they exist, are comparatively slight 
and subordinate, as the quality and flavor of the 
cheese made from the same herd often do not vary 
in any important particular, whether made in win¬ 
ter or summer, notwithstanding the food may differ 
from the luxuriance of vegetation at one period, 
and its scarcity or abundance of flowering plants 
at another. So long as the cows receive sufficient 
food of good quality, and are allowed healthful 
air and exercise, with proper cleanliness, it is the 
opinion of good judges, that the precise description 
of food is of little consequence, as far as the quality 
or flavor of the cheese is concerned; yet the rich¬ 
ness of the milk, or the quantity of the cream, 
is greatly augmented when the cows are fed on 
Swedish turnips (ruta-baga), or are depastured on 
white clover and other sweet grasses grown on a 
dry soil. 
The chief conditions necessary for the prepara¬ 
tion of the superior kinds of cheese, are a proper 
regard to the temperature of the milk when set; the 
careful and gradual removal of the whey; and a 
comparatively low temperature during the matura¬ 
tion or process of ripening. If the temperature of 
the milk much exceed 80° to 85° F., say ten or 
twelve degrees below blood heat, both the quality 
and quantity of the cheese are deteriorated; if be¬ 
low 80°, the curd is so long in collecting, that the 
risk is incurred of its becoming sour, and the 
cheese when made has a tendency to mould. If the 
curd, when formed, is not immediately separated 
from the whey, the production of lactic acid en¬ 
sues, the fluid turns sour, and the cheese itself be¬ 
comes rancid and passes into a state of decompo¬ 
sition. If the place appropriated for ripening or 
storing the cheese be exposed to sudden changes of 
temperature, as an attic, or upper room in a house, 
the cheeses, if they are rich, are apt to crack, or 
run, and from too rapid drying, they are deprived* 
