1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
153 
MANUFACTURE OF CHEESE. 
At the January meeting of the New-York State 
Agricultural Society, 1848, Mr. Alonzo L. Fish, of 
Litchfield, Herkimer County, received a premium of 
fifty dollars, for an account, of experiments made by 
him in the manufacture and management of cheese. 
Mr. F.’s valuable essay (as it may be called) is em¬ 
bodied in the elaborate report of the committee ap¬ 
pointed by the Society to examine the claims of com¬ 
petitors under this head, and will be found in the vol¬ 
ume of Transactions for 1847, when published. We 
think the following extracts from Mr. Fish’s remarks, 
will be read with advantage by those of our readers 
who either are, or expect to be, engaged in cheese¬ 
dairying.* 
Having been personally engaged in 1845, in some 60 
dairies, which were located in thirteen towns and four 
counties, and more or less in the same manner the past 
two years, I have observed a marked difference in the 
capacity of soils for producing herbage, under different 
modes of culture, and the various conditions and treat¬ 
ment of cows, affecting their capacity for milk, both as 
regards quality and quantity. The inconvenient and 
improper fixtures, in many instances, for making and 
curing cheese, which are to be found, all unite in con¬ 
vincing me, that any set rules for making cheese would 
not be practicable, even with the most proficient cheese- 
maker; because, 
In the first place, milk is a fluid very liable to be 
varied in quality by impure water, by damp and unven¬ 
tilated stables, change of diet, excess of feeding, ex¬ 
citement of temper, irregular milking, salting, &c., 
which destroy its susceptibility to produce like results. 
2d. Cheese, when pressed and exposed in a curing 
process, is no less easily affected, and is equally liable 
to be varied in texture and flavor, by size of cheese, 
exposure to excess of heat, bad air, &c., the effect of 
which I shall hereafter notice. There are, however, 
leading principles which form the basis of operations, 
and should be closely adhered to, in all cases, in the 
process of manufacturing cheese. Salt, Rennet , heat 
and pressure, are the principal agents used in convert¬ 
ing milk into cheese, the flavor and texture of which 
is determined by their proportionate use. Their pro¬ 
portion is varied by different dairymen, according to 
their notions of propriety, as best adapted to their fix¬ 
tures. experience, &c. Hence arise the great inequal¬ 
ities in dairies, in the same neighborhood, and even in 
the same dairy-rooms may be found as many different 
qualifies of cheese as there are of fruit in an apple or¬ 
chard. Some of these are matured at an early period, 
while others mature later, and are unsuited to the same 
market. 
Much of the cheese being contracted for before it is 
made, (in the early part of the season) both buyer and 
maker are liable to be disappointed, in the cheese being 
suited to the market for which it is designed, destroy¬ 
ing the confidence of purchasers, and injuring the 
interest of the dairymen. It is therefore necessary, 
that makers should have sufficient knowledge of the 
science to determine the result of their practice, w 7 hich 
cannot be learned from verbal instruction. It is by 
* We have in previous volumes described the modes of making 
various kinds of chee?e. A former essay of Mr. Fish’s is given in 
vol. X. pp. 114, j29, 147 We would also refer to vol. I. new se¬ 
ries, p. 133, and for the mode of making ihe English Gloucester 
cheese, to the same volume, p. 165 An article on u Cheese Dai¬ 
ries or Connecticut” is given in volume 11, p. 283; and a descrip¬ 
tion of the mode of making the English Cheshire cheese in volume 
lllj p. 268. 
practical experience and close observation only , that 
the maker can learn to adapt his practice to the fre¬ 
quent. and extreme changes to which our climate is 
subject, varying the quality of the milk, and materially 
affecting cheese in the process of curing. 
The evening’s and morning’s milk is commonly used 
to make one day’s cheese. The evening’s milk is 
strained into a tub or pans and cooled to prevent sour¬ 
ing. This is done by running water through a vessel 
set in the milk, or setting pails filled with cold water 
into the tub, and stirring till cool; but little cream will 
rise over night. 
The cream is taken from the evening’s milk, and 
kept till the evening’s and morning’s milk are put to¬ 
gether, and warmed to receive the rennet. This is 
oft$n done by heating a part of evening’s milk to a 
temperature that will warm the whole mass. Both are 
objectionable, because the natural affinity which is 
necessary to preserve between the constituent parts a 
perfect coherence, is destroyed, by a portion ofthe milk 
being overheated. It is better to warm the whole mass 
in a manner that will produce an equillibrium of heat, 
which is best done by placing the vessel containing the 
milk within a large vessel, with two inches under the 
bottom, and one inch of space at the sides, into which 
spaee water may be put to cool the milk, and into 
which steam may be let to warm the milk and scald 
the curd. The more water surrounding the milk, the 
more uniform will be the heat. The cream, if added, 
(which is generally done,) is best incorporated with 
the milk, by putting it with twice its quantity of new 
warm milk from the cow, and add warm water to raise 
its temperature to ninety-eight degrees. Stir it till 
perfectly limpid, add cream to milk, and then put in 
rennet, that the same stirring may mix both at -once 
with the same mass. If milk is curdled below eighty- 
four degrees, the cream is more liable to work off with 
the whey. An extreme of heat will have alike effect. 
Curdling heat is varied with temperature of the air, 
or the liability of the milk to cool after adding rennet. 
A fine cloth spread over the tub while the milk is curd¬ 
ling will prevent the surface from being cooled by cir¬ 
culation of air. No jarring of the milk, by walking 
npon a springy floor or otherwise, should be allowed 
while milk is curdling, as it prevents a perfect cohe¬ 
rence. 
Rennet.— Various opinions exist as to the best mode 
of saving rennet, and that, is generally adopted wdiich 
is supposed will curdle the most milk. I have no ob¬ 
jection to any mode that will preserve its strength and 
flavor, so that it may be smelt and tasted with good 
relish, when put into the milk. Any composition not 
thus kept, I deem unfit for use, as the coagulator is an 
essential agent in cheesing the curd, and sure to im¬ 
part its own flavor. The rennet never should be taken 
from the calf till the excrement shows the animal to 
be in perfect health. The stomach should be emptied 
of its contents, salted and dried, without scraping or 
rinsing, and kept dry for one year, when it will be fit 
for use. It should not be allowed to gather dampness, 
or its strength will evaporate. To prepare it for use: 
into ten gallons of water, (blood warm,) put ten ren¬ 
nets, churn or rub them often for 24 hours, then rub 
and press them to get the strength, stretch, salt and 
dry them as before. They will gain strength for a 
second use, and may be used when the weather will 
admit of soaking them to get the full strength. Make 
