means of obtaining those are, upon farms similarly cir¬ 
cumstanced, so far alike, as to differ materially in the 
minutiae only, yet upon these minutiae much of the art 
of cheese-making depends. 
“ That an exact uniformity does not prevail in every 
part of the process, is no wonder; for there is not any 
of the business which is conducted in a dairy which 
tends to chemical exactness. Where there is no preci* 
sion, there can be no just comparison; and where no 
comparison can be made, there exists no foundation for 
an attempt at uniformity. The degree of heat at setting 
the milk together is never measured, the quantity of 
steep is guessed at , and its quality not exactly known; 
the quantity of salt necessary is undefined, and the 
sweating or fermenting of the cheese , when made, is 
accidental.” 
As an antiseptic, a certain quantity of salt is neces¬ 
sary; it is the same in this respect with cheese as it is 
with butter or bacon. There may be, and no doubt are, 
differences of opinion, both amongst makers and consu¬ 
mers of cheese, as to the degree of saltness which is 
best; and it may be necessary, in order to suit the pal¬ 
ates of the many , that there should be a variety. I 
am willing to admit the force of the argument, so far, 
that there might be these shades of difference in diffe¬ 
rent dairies, but think that they ought not to exist in 
one and the same dairy. Each maker strives at uni¬ 
formity as regards the thickness and color of his cheese, 
and would like also to attain uniformity in flavor if 
he could. Why not, therefore, measure or weigh the 
alt before using; regulating the same by the quantity 
of milk or the weight or quantity of curd?* The for¬ 
mer would easily be ascertained by mean§ of a gauge, 
or graduated rod, which any farmer might make for 
himself, to suit his own cheese-tub. ^The way to make 
it would be to pour into the tub a gallon of water, or 
any liquid, and then to note its height, and mark it 
on the rod. This being done, put in another gallon 
and again mark the height, and so on until the tub is 
full; taking care afterwards to introduce the rod into 
the same part of the tub, as the bottoms are not often 
level. 
It has generally been considered that a gallon of milk 
(supposing little or no cream has. been taken from it) 
will produce upon an average of the season 1 lb. of 
saleable cheese; that is, when the cheese is four or five 
months old. In autumn there is always more curd from 
the same quantity of milk than at any other part of the 
season. 
During wet weather there will sometimes be more 
milk than usual, though not a proportionately greater 
quantity of curd. An experienced dairy maid soon de¬ 
tects these different results, and makes allowances ac¬ 
cordingly. IT have met with no dairy maid who regu¬ 
larly weighs the salt; but a highly respectable farmer, 
whose wife makes a first rate cheese, has given me the 
weight used in his dairy, as near as the same can be 
computed. It is as follows:— 
In March and April their lb. lb. oz. 
cheeses average about 30 and about 0 10 of salt is used. 
In May, June, and July, 70 “ 2 0 
In August,. 60 “ 1 12 “ 
In September,. 50 “ 14 “ 
InCJctober and November 30 “ 0 10 “ 
In the above instance it will be seen that more in pro¬ 
portion was used in summer than at other times, and 
that the average is one lb. of salt for 40 lbs. of dried 
cheese (or say forty gallons of milk). 
I was favored with an account from another dairy in 
which, to oblige me, the salt for once was weighed. 
For a cheese which weighed 46 lbs. a few days after 
making (say 42 lbs. at four months old) 1 lb. 1 oz. was 
used. This is also after the rate of 1 lb. of salt for 40 
lbs. of dried cheese, and was said to be the quantity 
* Since writing the above I have learnt that a farmer in 
South Cheshire, well known for his introduction of improve¬ 
ments in agriculture, has commenced the system of weighing 
his curd previous to salting it, and he says he uses salt m the 
proportion of 1 lb. to 42 lbs. of curd. He also informs me he 
sets his milk together by a thermometer, and at a tempera¬ 
ture of 76° or 77°. 
uniformly used throughout the year in this dairy, which 
consisted of about forty cows. 
A third account is from a dairy of sixteen cows : the 
quantity of salt used was generally about 1 lb. for 45 
lbs. of cheese; but the dairy-maid made a trial last 
year with one cheese, using only three-quarters of a 
pound. The cheese was made at the beginning of June, 
and when weighed in the middle of September was 42 
lbs. This cheese was admitted to be better than the 
others in the same dairy. 
The salt termed the “middle grained” is the kind ge¬ 
nerally used; but some use “ tire.” Btfo:e applying 
it the Curd is cut into three or four equal sized pieces, 
and each of these is broken into smaller pieces by band, 
or is passed once through the euid mill.* The salt is 
then scattered over it, and the “ breaking 55 continued 
either by the hands, the curd-mill, or both, until the 
salt is well intermixed, and the curd perfectly crumbled. 
Each portion as it is broken is put into the cheese-vat, 
in which has been first placed a clean and rather finer 
cloth than was used for the previous process, and the 
eurdis compacted as much with the hands as possible. 
To admit of the curd being properly pressed, it is ne¬ 
cessary to put it into such a vat as it will overfill by at 
least two inches. It is also rounded up a little in the 
middle. The cloth is then brought over it, and tucked 
in at the edges of the vat with a small wooden knife or 
other dull-edged instrument. In order to support the 
outside of that part of the eurd which is above the vat, 
and to keep it. in proper form when the press is applied, 
a tin or zinc hoop or “ fillet,” the edges of which are 
rounded off so as not to cut the cloth, and the ends lap¬ 
ping over and unattached, so that the same fillet will 
do for different sizes of cheese, is introduced round the 
inside of the top of the vat. The “ filletthus placed 
sinks with the curd, and having small perforations in it, 
the emission of the whey is effected through it as 
through the perforations of the vat. Since it has be¬ 
come the fashion to make Cheshire cheeses thicker than 
they used to-be, it is no unusual thing to see fillets six 
or eight inches broad. 
The vat is now again placed under the screw or lever 
press, and the skewering is also continued. The pres¬ 
sure is increased at intervals, and the skewers inserted 
in fresh places to accelerate as much as possible the dis¬ 
charge of the remaining whey or “ thrustings, ” as it 
is now termed. 
In the course of an hour from the time of salting, the 
eurd is taken from under the screw or lever press, and 
out of the vat, for the purpose of being turned upside 
down, which is done on a table. In the first place, the 
angles of that side which was topmost in the vat are 
cutoff; a circular piece, two or three inches deep, is 
often also scooped out of the centre, and both are 
broken small with the hands and rounded up in the mid¬ 
dle. The cloth being drawn over the curd, the vat is 
then turned down, upon it, and re-turning the vat with 
the curd in it, the other angles and centre part of the 
curd are broken in a similar manner: after which the 
tin fillet is put on, and the screwing and pressing is con¬ 
tinued as before for about half an hour or an hour. It 
will, probably, be two or three o'clock in the afternoon 
before the curd (or cheese, as it may now be termed) is 
got under the press; that is, when it is removed from 
the screw to the stone press: but where the lever press 
is used instead of the screw, which, I think, might al¬ 
ways be advantageously done, all the change that will 
now he required is a little more weight at the end of 
the lever. 
Before turning the cheese for the purpose of placing 
it under the press, it is usual to prick it perpendicularly 
down with a skewer in several places, for the purpose of 
making drains for the whey, after having been so turned. 
A clean cloth is applied, and where the lever press lS 
not used, the cheese is put under one of the lightest of 
the other kind. A pressure of six, eight, or ten cwt., 
* The curd-mill is of recent introduction, and it is only in 
a few dairies that it is met w r ith; some dairy-maids highly 
approving, others objecting to it. I think it will soon he 
more generally adopted, as it effects a saving in time, and 
breaks the curd more regularly than it can be done by hand. 
