154 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the liquor as salt as can be made, strain and settle it, 
separate it from sediment, (if any,) and it is fit for 
use. Six lemons, two ounces of cloves, two ounces of 
cinnamon, and two ounces of common sage are some¬ 
times added to the liquor to preserve its flavor and 
quicken its action. If kept cool in a stone jar, it will 
keep sweet any length of time desired, and a uniform 
strength can be secured while it lasts. Stir it before 
dipping off to set milk, take of it enough to curdle milk 
firm in 40 minutes. Squeeze or rub through a rag, 
anatto enough to make the curd a cream color, and stir 
it in with the rennet. When milk is curdled so as to 
appear like a solid, it is divided into small particles, to 
aid the separation of the whey from the curd. This is 
often too speedily done, to facilitate the work, but at a 
sacrifice of quality and quantity. 
The three indispensable agents, heat, rennet and pres¬ 
sure, rightly applied, must keep pace with each other in 
effect. The two former operating to subdivide, the lat¬ 
ter to aid cohesion, by bringing the particles of a same¬ 
ness closer in contact. This should be skilfully and 
studiously applied in a mild way, according to the ca¬ 
pacity of the curd to receive it. The less friction in 
working the curd the less waste. If heat is raised too 
fast, or commenced while the curd is too young, the 
effect of the rennet will be checked, and decomposition 
will not be complete, and will result in a leaky cheese. 
This often happens when steamers are used in small 
dairies. Heat may be raised in scalding to keep pace 
with rennet; if rennet is quick, heat may be raised 
quick; if slow, heat must be raised slow and held 
longer. Scalding heat may be carried from ninety- 
six to one hundred and four degrees, according to 
the size of the cheese, and temperature to which the 
cheese is exposed. During the process of scalding, the 
whey and curd should be kept in motion, to prevent the 
curd from settling and sticking together, as separating 
it is attended with great labor and waste from friction. 
When the curd is cooked, so that it feels elastic and 
will squeak when chewed with the front teeth, it is 
separated from the whey to receive salt. This is done 
by dipping it into a strainer over a basket or sink, or 
drained off and salted in the tub. Either may be done 
without adhering in lumps, by stirring it in a small 
portion of whey, till cooled to 94 degrees. This is the 
most critical part of the process, where cheese-makers 
are most likely to err, as the portion of salt retained 
in cheese after pressing, will be in proportion to the 
capacity of curd to receive it when added. At a par¬ 
ticular period and temper of curd, when draining off 
whey, it will absorb salt freely, and after being 
thoroughly mixed and packed up for a few minutes 
while warm, it will be evenly shrunk and cleansed by 
salt and whey, and will press out freely; but if the curd 
is not well cooked , or if it is cooled too fast in draining 
off whey, it will acquire a degree of stubborness, pre¬ 
vent the absorption of salt to shrink and cleanse, and 
no amount of pressure will be sufficient to drive out 
the fluid. 
If curd is not worked even, the larger lumps will 
not be cooked enough, or the lesser too much, (like 
large loaves of bread and small biscuit baked together 
in one oven,) hence, the cheese is left impregnated 
with the elements of fermentation, which increase on 
being exposed to heat, till the cheese is sufficiently 
swollen, or huffed, for each constituent to occupy a 
separate space in the same shell or rind. The fluids 
are first attracted together by affinity, forming small 
cavities in which they remain unaffected by salt, be¬ 
come fetid, and generate an unpleasant odor, which is 
a fair proof of the quality of rennet used. Curd 
should be salted warm, as it is then more absorbent, 
and it should be thoroughly cooled before putting it to 
press, to suppress the combined action of heat and ren° 
Mat 
net. The quantity of salt required, varies with the 
condition of the curd, size of cheese, amount of heat 
to which the cheese is exposed in curing, and market 
for which it is designed. 
A well worked cheese, from fifty to one hundred 
pounds, requires one pound of refined salt to forty 
pounds of curd, to remain in the cheese after it is 
pressed and exposed to a temperature of from seventy 
to eighty degrees. This may be varied from two to 
four pounds to the hundred, according to the texture 
of cheese required—small cheese requiring less, and 
large cheese more. 
A degree of moisture is necessary in cheese for a 
malleable texture, but this should not be from animal 
fluids retained in the curd. A high salted cheese im¬ 
mediately exposed to high temperature, becomes sour, 
hard, dry and crumbling; the same exposed to a cool, 
damp atmosphere retains sufficient moisture to be soft, 
yet solid. A cheese light salted in a high temperature 
will cure quick, become porous, huffy and stale. Curd 
from hay milk, requires much less salt, than that from 
grass or grain feed, as it is poorer and will retain salt 
like lean meats. The richer the milk, the more salt is 
required to control the animal properties, and the less 
absorbent the curd, the pores being filled with the finer 
buttery particles. 
More salt is required in hot weather also, to over¬ 
rule the combined action of rennet and heat , neither of 
which will be effective alone. When curd is ready to 
press, it is important to dispossess those decomposing 
agents. The gastric juice (or coagulator) is a fluid, 
and works off with the animal fluids in whey; and the 
only way to get rid of it, is to work the curd down fine 
and solid and work the whey all out. Then cool the 
curd thoroughly before pressing, and the cheese will be 
solid and keep its place. But if the whey is not all 
out, the decomposer is yet on hand, continues its action 
(aided by heat) till an equilibrium of chemical action 
is destroyed in the cheese, and the fluid properties leak 
out in fetid whey and oil, leaving it a rank and worth¬ 
less article. In short, the proper method of using salt 
must be arrived at by a close observation as to its chem¬ 
ical combination with the constituent properties at dif¬ 
ferent ages of the cheese with different sizes, heat, 
dampness, &c. This, although an essential point, has 
not been sufficiently determined by chemical analysis 
to be reliable. (To be Continued.) 
The Carol of 31ay. 
[The following song, the production of an English 
writer, was left with us by a friend for republication, 
sometime since. It seems appropriate to the present 
season:] 
By the side of a mountain o’ershadowed with trees, 
With the clusters of vines intermingled and wove, 
I behold my farm-cottage, dear mansion of ease— 
The seat of retirement, of friendship and love. 
In the morn, when I lift up the latch of my door, 
My heart beats with rapture to hear the birds sing ; 
And at night, when the dance in the village is o’er, 
On my pillow I strew the fresh roses of spring-. 
Then I hie to the forest, from noon’s scorching beams, 
Where the torrent’s deep murmur re-echoing sounds ; 
The herds quit their pastures to quaff the clear streams, 
And the flocks of the vale lie extended around. 
I muse, and my thoughts are contented and free, 
I regret not the splendor of riches or pride; 
The seat of retirement is dearer to me 
Than the proudest appendage to greatness allied. 
I sing, and my song is the carol of May; 
While my cheeks glow with health like the wild rose in bloom— 
I dance, yet forget not, tho’ blithesome and gay, 
That I measure the footsteps -which lead to the tomb. 
Contented to live, yet not fearful to die, 
With a conscience unspotted I pass through life’s scene; 
On the wings of delight every moment shall fly, 
And the end of my days be resigned and serene. 
