296 
[August, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
the cheese is sufficiently pressed with the hands, 
it is taken from the mold and plunged into a 
bath of whey heated up to 122 degrees, for a 
space of two minutes. It is then again pressed 
into the mold, aud shaped, wrapped iu a fine 
cloth, replaced in the mold, and put in the 
press, the form of which is shown at figure 2. 
There is a great variety of presses used in Hol¬ 
land, the one here illustrated is that which is 
used at this dairy. The cheese remains in the 
press one or two hours in the winter, six or 
seven hours in spring, and about twelve hours 
in the summer. After coming from the press, 
Fig. 1.—PRESSING INTO MOLDS. 
the cheese is taken from the mold, freed from 
the cloth, and placed in the salting mold, seen 
at figure 8. This is intended to give the 
cheeses their final shape, which is nearly 
globular. The first day the up¬ 
per surface of the cheese is 
sprinkled with salt, and the molds 
are placed in long, covered boxes, 
shown at figure 4, which are slight¬ 
ly inclined, so as to allow the whey, 
which drains from the cheese, 
to pass off through spaces in the bottom. These 
boxes are placed upon a stage. The second 
day the cheeses are taken from the molds, and 
rolled in a bowl filled with damp salt, and re¬ 
turned to the mold, but in a reversed position. 
This process is continued until the salt has 
penetrated the cheese thoroughly ; this hap¬ 
pens in nine or ten days. The cheese, which 
has now become solid, is taken from the mold. 
dipped once more in moist salt, wiped dry, and 
placed upon the drying shelves to cure. The 
shelves are arranged as seen in figure 5, and the 
cheeses are placed upon them in regular order, 
Fig. 4.— BOX FOB EDAM CHEESE. 
according to their age. Here they remain three 
months, being turned every day the first month, 
every second day the second month, and once 
a week during the third month. At the end of 
24 to 30 days, they are dipped in a bath of tepid 
water (about 66 to 
70 degrees), washed, 
brushed, and set to 
dry in an open place. 
When perfectly dry, 
they are replaced 
upon the shelves. 
Fifteen days after¬ 
wards they are 
again washed,dried, 
and greased with 
linseed oil, when 
they are return¬ 
ed to the shelves 
where they re¬ 
main until sold for 
home consumption. 
When prepared for 
exportation, they 
undergo some fur¬ 
ther processes, to 
give them a lighter 
color upon the 
outside, and also 
to preserve them 
for a longer period. They are first scraped 
smoothly with a sharp knife, then, for the 
English and Spanish markets, they are rubbed 
with a mixture of linseed oil and annatto, 
which gives them a deep orange color. For 
the French market, or for shipment by sea., 
they are dipped in a bath of 6 parts of tincture 
of tournesol (crozophora tinctorm), one half part 
of Berlin rouge, and 10 parts of water. 36 lbs. 
of this preparation, costing $2.50, is sufficient 
to color 1,000 cheeses. When the surface of 
the cheeses is dry, they are rubbed again with 
butter mixed with rouge, and packed iu boxes 
of eight compartments, each one of which 
holds a cheese. They are now ready for ship¬ 
ment, and in this condition may be preserved 
for several years without deterioration, even in 
the hot climates of the tropics. The chief 
necessities in curing these cheeses are dry air, a 
regular temperature of about 72 at every sea¬ 
son, a current of pure air through the curing 
rooms, careful avoidance of damp air, on which 
account the north, nortli-east and east winds, 
which in Holland blow from the sea, are con¬ 
sidered eminently injurious. The eolstrum, or 
the first milk of a fresh cow, is unfit for use, 
aud if the cows have been heated previ¬ 
ous to milking, it is considered preferable to 
lose the milk than to use it for cheese. The 
Edam cheese manufacture is the most profit¬ 
able of any in Holland, yielding about one- 
fourth more than any other. 100 pounds of 
milk produce 10 to 11 pounds of cheese, which 
sells at the dairy for 16 cents a pound (160 
francs the 100 kilogrames). 
A Machine-made Ox-Shoe. 
By reason of the excessive cost of a hand¬ 
made shoe, it is frequently the case that shoes 
remain on an ox, when they should be taken 
off and replaced, or the ox goes unshod, in 
either case to the discomfort or injury of the 
animal. Many an ox is tortured throughout 
the summer season, and 
compelled to work with 
tender feet upon stony 
roads, doing only half 
work in the meantime, 
simply because it will cost 
$8 to $12, and the loss of 
a day’s time, to get him 
shod. Besides, the mak¬ 
ing of a good ox-shoe is a 
specialty, in which few 
blacksmiths are perfect, 
and one is often obliged, 
as we have been, to go 
ten miles from borne to 
get an ox shod. Now we 
are glad to know this dif¬ 
ficulty and cost may be 
avoided by the use of an ox-shoe. 
improved machine-made, 
forged shoe, which is manufactured by the 
Greenfield Tool Company, of Greenfield, Mass., 
for the reasonable price of 15 cents per pound. 
The illustration shows the character of this 
shoe. It is an engraving of one half of the 
Fig. 2.—PRESS FOR EDAM CHEESE. 
Fig. 5.—CURING-ROOM FOR EDAM CHEESE. 
