1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
171 
and now, with all his ample barn room, he has none to j 
spare. Among other things, his operations show in a j 
striking manner, the great advantage to be derived on : 
our worn out soils, from a liberal and judicious use of ; 
swamp muck, and the importance and profit attending 
a strict husbandry of all the resources on the farm for 
making and saving manure. 
In the language of the chairman of the committee 
of our agricultural society, for awarding premiums on 
manure:—“ Every animal in the house or in the barn, 
on this farm, contributes something to swell the im¬ 
mense heap.”— [( We hope our farmers will soon learn 
that the process of making manure is not an impover¬ 
ishing, but an enriching process, as is proved in the 
case of Mr. Rice, of whom his neighbors used to pro¬ 
phecy that this muck-hole would send him to jail. It 
has proved however, that in digging muck, he was dig¬ 
ging money, instead of landing in jail.” 
It is evident to any one, in conversing with Mr. Rice 
and witnessing the operations of his farm, that he unites 
extensive agricultural reading with the most close and 
minute observation. He is a hard-working, practical 
man; and he has adopted no new theory or practice 
simply because new, or continued in an old one because 
old; but with excellent sense he has adopted those 
suggestions, from whatever source derived, that seemed 
applicable to his soil and condition. Starting in life 
with nothing but a willing mind and a doing hand, he has 
risen to his present position by the force of his own enter¬ 
prise and goodjudgment. He has been compelled to ad¬ 
vance slowly and cautiously in his improvements, 
making them no faster than they would pay for them¬ 
selves, and now he has a farm and plan of operations that 
may safely challenge competition. 
In this example we see, forcibly illlustrated, the va¬ 
lue of agricultural reading, to the farmer who has the 
good sense to follow those suggestions that are appli- 
ble to his soil, location and means. It is not to be ex¬ 
pected that every practically written article published 
in an agricultural journal of wide circulation, can be 
of universal application, for soils, localities as to mar¬ 
kets, &c., &c., must necessarily vary. The farmer, 
therefore, who fails to exercise suitable judgment in fol¬ 
lowing the suggestions of others, has mainly to blame 
himself, probably, if he meets with disappointments; 
and instead of commencing a tirade against everything 
that is written by others, he may as well exclaim of 
himself:— 
“Poor Johnny Raw, what madness could impel, 
So rum a flat to face so prime a swell.” 
How many young farmers, commencing in life with 
heavy mortgages upon them, pursue the mistaken course 
of cutting off their wood and timber, plowing up their 
pastures every few years for a grain crop, without even 
sowing grass seeds, and inventing every other possible 
means to cheat “mother earth” of a crop, without return¬ 
ing her any equivalent■-in other words, “destroying 
the goose that lays the golden egg,”—and all from the 
plea that they are in debt. Let all such be reminded 
by the example of Mr. Rice, that this is not the true 
policy. Like him, let them seize hold of every means 
the farm affords for making and saving manure, thus 
increasing the crops and the reward of their labor, af¬ 
fording a more sure and expeditious means of liquida¬ 
ting mortgages, with a farm left worth cultivating; a 
farm upon which they may live in independence, with 
the pleasing reflection, in the evening of life, that theirs 
is an example safely to be followed by their children. 
Further remarks, suggested by the example of this 
farmer, might be pursued, but the unwarrantable 
length of this communication admonishes me to for¬ 
bear. F. Holbrook. 
Brattleboro, Vt. January 6, 1848. 
MMUFACTIIHE OF CHEESE. 
{Mr. Fish's Essay, concluded from page 154) 
Pressing. —When curd is properly tempered for 
pressing, a cotton or linen cloth is spread over the hoop, 
the curd is put in and pressed with from three to twelve 
tons weight, turned twdce in eight-and-forty hours, into 
clean dry cloth. The press should be sure to follow T 
dow T n as the curd yields (when young,) to press out 
whey before a rind is formed to prevent its escape. 
There is‘'no danger of too much pressure, after the 
first ten minutes. The press, hoops, cloths, &c., should 
be cleaned wdth lye often, to keep the rind from crack¬ 
ing. The cloth is taken from the cheese when it is ta¬ 
ken from the hoop. The cheese is set on the table for 
a few hours until dry enough to absorb oil, and then 
painted with annatto, mixed in strong lye, (from com¬ 
mon ashes) kept in ajar for ready use. This toughens 
the rind so that it will not require much grease after the 
first coat, to become smooth, if rubbed often with the 
hand moistened wdth oil. 
The paint will fade to a rich butter color, which is 
as high a color as is desirable. A firm rind may be 
formed upon cheese wdien young, by a careful exposure 
to drying air, frequently rubbing with the hand, and 
no more oil than will readily incorporate with the rind. 
If more grease is used than will be taken up, it will 
sooner or later flake off, leaving the cheese scabby with¬ 
out rind, exposed to cracks, flies, mould, &c. Oil for 
greasing cheese is obtained from cream skimmed from 
whey, (after standing 24 hours;) it is churned till se¬ 
paration takes place like butter, then melted over a 
slow fire till it is turned to oil. A preparation of bees¬ 
wax, from g to |, mixed wdth oil, will make a rind im¬ 
pervious to flies. 
It is most desirable that cheese designed for foreign 
markets should be in proportion half as thick as they 
are wide, and not to exceed 100 lbs. in weight. The 
size of the hoop may be calculated from the number of 
gallons of milk; each gallon will make one pound of 
cheese. A cheese 
21 inches wide wdll weigh 14£ lbs to each inch in depth. 
20 
cc 
(C 
12 lbs 
cc 
cc 
19 
u 
cc 
10-^ lbs 
cc 
t c 
18 
Cl 
(C 
9 lbs 
cc 
cc 
17 
(l 
cc 
8 lbs 
cc 
cc 
16 
Cl 
cc 
7 lbs 
cc 
• cc 
15 
Cl 
cc 
6 lbs 
cc 
cc 
14 
Cl 
cc 
5 lbs 
cc 
cc 
Cheeses of the above proportions are banded with 
cotton cloth to keep them in shape. The band should 
not cover more than an inch or inch and a-half of the 
flat surface. Heavy cheeses must be banded with cloth 
that will not stretch, or their weight will make them 
ill-shapen. 
In April, 1847, I divided curd into two equal parts, 
after it was salted, and ready to press, and pressed in 
equal and varied shapes to ascertain the result of va¬ 
ried heat, salt, &c. April 24th, (see schedule of 
April,) No. 1 was kept in a room of from 90 to 100 de¬ 
grees heat; did not buff, but not having rennet enough 
to keep pace with the heat, soured, was hard, dry and 
smart; shrunk twelve per cent in sixty days. No. % t 
