THE CULTIVATOR. 
225 
MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE. 
The following is an extract from the statement of 
Alonzo L. Fish, of Herkimer county, who received the 
first premium of the New-York Stale Agricultural Society, 
for the best cheese dairy, in 1844. 
Calves’ rennets only are used after being dried one 
year. There are less animal properties in them than in 
new rennets, and will not make cheese swell in warm 
weather, and on shrinking, leave them like honey comb, 
full of holes, with a rank flavor. 
Calves, whose rennets are designed for cheese making, 
are not allowed to suck sick cows, or those giving bad 
milk, but are fed a plenty of good milk, from five to ten 
days old; twelve or fifteen hours after sucking, when the 
gastric juices are roost abundant and pure, the rennet is 
taken out and stretched on a bow; as much fine salt is 
added as will adhere without draining, and hung in good 
air to dry. Milking is done in tin pails, strained through 
a large tin strainer into a tin vat, where it is not skimmed 
nor moved till the cheese is made. The pails are set into 
a common sap bucket, which being light and smaller at 
bottom than top, a little press on the pail will fasten the 
bucket to it so that it carries with the pail without any 
inconvenience. A light tap on the bucket will drop it, 
and leave the pail clean and not bruised. A tin vat, large 
enough to hold the milk, is set within a larger wooden 
vat , with one inch space between the sides and bottoms 
of the two, to admit water, which is cooled by ice and 
heated by steam, which water cools the milk to take out 
the animal heat, warms it to receive rennet, remains and 
heats whey and scalds curd. It is discharged by a cock 
to pass off into a tub, and scalds bran or meal for slop 
feed, when it is required. Scalded feed is required 
daily when the cows are milked, on hay feed. A large 
reservoir is built of stone and cement to contain fifty 
hogshead of rain water from buildings, to discharge by 
a cock into the above described space into a steam gene¬ 
rator or into a tub, or any other place in the lower rooms, 
where it is desired. A pump affords water to this appa¬ 
ratus in case of drouth. Thus the same water is made 
to perform three distinct offices, by no more labor than 
to turn three cocks with thumb and finger. 
After water in the reservoir is not wanted for cheese 
making-, a pipe conducts it into the top of ice house to 
freeze in solid mass in winter, for cooling milk the next 
season. No skimmer, pail or dippex-, is required about 
this apparatus, only to milk in, as the cream which rises 
over night is not separated, nor no dipping of milk, 
whey or water. The heating is done daily, by a handful 
of chips, or four quarts of chax-coal, and all shift of ap¬ 
paratus can be made with one hand while the other is 
employed in the milk or curd. A young man is hired at 
$11 per month, for eight months, to take the whole 
charge of nursing, feeding, making and take care of 
milk and cheese through the summer, and does no other 
business. He is required to keep a register, daily, of the 
variation (if any) of heat, salt, quality and effect of ren¬ 
net, number of cows milked, quantity of milk from which 
cheese is made, condition of curd when put to press, 
when cheese is put on shelf that it is weighed and num¬ 
bered upon the bandage, so that when cured the result 
of certain variations may be known. An inch pipe 
passes fi-om the steam generator and discharges steam 
into water under the tin vat; in ten minutes the whole 
mass is warmed to ninety degrees to receive rennet. The 
steam is then turned off (which would otherwise be lost) 
into a tub which stands high enough to discharge into 
the cheese vat and scald it after the cheese is made. Hot 
water is drawn at any time from the same to cleanse 
pails, cloth hoops, &c. Calves’ rennets only are used, 
after being one year dry, ‘hey being less apt to make 
cheese swell in warm weather, and of better flavor. A 
piece of rennet, to bring curd in forty minutes, is 
pounded fine in an iron mortar, and soaked a short time 
in warm water mixed with a 1 if tie annatto, drained, 
strained and put into the milk. When come, the curd is 
cut in large pieces with a wood knife, thickest in the 
middle, to give it a slight pressure before there is much 
surface exposed to be rinsed by wfiev; after standing ten 
minutes, the pieces are cut smaller with the same knife, 
then broken up by putting the hands to the bottom of the 
tub, bringing them through to the top, with fingers 
spread, with a slow motion, to give it all a slight pressure 
without tearing fine while tender; heat is kept as high 
as eighty-eight degrees while working; steam let on; 
the motion and pressure with hands increased with in¬ 
crease of heat and toughness of curd; heat is kept up to 
continue the action of the rennet, as it is most active 
when warm; heat raised to ninety-eight degrees; the 
steam is then turned off; it is kept at that heat thirty mi¬ 
nutes. The scalding is now done; the water and whey 
are discharged, one pound of fine salt to fitty of curd is 
added, while warm, to shrink the curd and preventholes 
in the cheese. After getting cool it is put to press; the 
pressure is from five to seven tons: in six hours is turned 
into clean cloth, and again in twelve hours more is taken 
out of the press and put upon the shelf, weighed, ban¬ 
daged, greased with oil of whey butter, turned daily. 
No greater heat is ever used in the operation than the 
natural heat of milk, (ninety-eight degrees.) 
FATTENING OF PORK IN IRELAND. 
We notice in the Louisville Journal, an article on the 
« Provision Trade of Ireland,” evidently written by a 
man who understands the subject. He informs us that 
the Irish pork, which in the English markets is preferred 
to any other, is fattened almost entirely on potatoes. He 
says:— 
“ The pork of Ireland is raised and fattened exclusively 
by the peasantry on cooked potatoes, with occasionally 
very little oats. I never knew an instance of more than 
ten hogs being fattened by one man for sale, and this is a 
very rare occurrence. The great bulk of them are got 
from men who fatten but one or two hogs.” 
The writer is of the opinion that the “ best brands ” of 
beef can be put up in the western section of our country, 
and sent into the British market so as to pay a handsome 
profit; but of pork he has doubts whether even the best 
can be sent there to any advantage. On this point he 
remarks:— 
“We know that a division of labor on anything is 
sure to produce a more perfect article and at a cheaper 
rate. Just look at the ease and cheapness with which 
an Irish peasant can fatten his one or two hogs, almost 
entirely from the refuse of his family table, anil see how 
superior the flesh of that animal must be that is con¬ 
stantly fed from its birth on good cooked food.” 
Our principal object in making the above extract is, 
to check the prevalence of what we believe to be erro¬ 
neous impressions. The first of which is, that pork 
made from potatoes is not good —and second, that hogs 
cannot be fattened on potatoes. The latter opinion has 
latterly received considerable support from some distin¬ 
guished French chemists. It may be proper to remark, 
however, that other chemists, Liebig, Johnston, &c., do 
not agree to this conclusion, which the experience and 
observation of many farmers shows to be fallacious. 
FARM ACCOUNTS—PREMIUM. 
Editor Cultivator —The writer of this note is en¬ 
gaged in compiling a Family Almanac, and Repository of 
Useful Knowledge, for 1846, and wishes among other 
things to aid farmers and housekeepers in keeping regu¬ 
lar accounts of their business, income, expenditures, &c 
It is believed that by presenting proper forms for doing it, 
a great many families may be induced to adopt this very 
important and useful, but generally neglected practice. 
A premium of $10 is therefore hereby offered for the 
bes [form or mode of keeping farming accounts in detail; 
and $5 for the best form of keeping household or family 
accounts. Will some of your readers who are in the 
practice of keeping such accounts, transcribe or copy 
enough of the same to show the plan or mode, from 
which a selection maybe made? Communications (post 
paid) will be received till the 20th of August, addressed 
A. F . W., Washington, D. C. 
j Washington , June , 1845. 
