THE CULTIVATOR 
247 
according to the size of the cheese, will be sufficient. 
This is generally accomplished by about two or three 
o’clock in the afternoon. Smaller skewers are now 
used, and remain (by removing them occasionally into 
fresh places) until about four o’clock: tl\ey are then 
withdrawn, but the cheese remains half an hour longer 
undisturbed, to al'ow the whey to drain from it. It is 
then, or some time ir the evening, turned, a clean cloth 
is put over it, and the pressing continued. If the lever 
press be used, the weight may be a little increased. 
On the second day the cheese is generally turned 
twice or three times; it is also skewered, and clean 
cloths are used each time of turning. I would observe 
here that if any of the cloths are used again before they 
have been washed and dried in the open air, great care 
should be taken that they be well scalded. The press¬ 
es used for at least the two first days, and, if possible, 
during the whole process, should be situate in the dair^ 
kitchen, or some other moderately warm ‘place, other¬ 
wise the whey will be longer in discharging, and more 
liable on that account, from the acidity which it soon 
acquires, to injure the flavor of the cheese. Another 
advantage of the lever press is that in cold -weather it 
may be easily removed to a sufficiently warm place, 
which cannot be the case w ith common pi*esses. These 
common presses are chiefly made of one square block of 
stone fixed in a wooden frame, but are also made of 
Avooden boxes filled with slag or other heavy material. 
They are generally fixed by the walls of the dairy, for 
the purpose of being stayed to them, and being there 
most out of the way; when there is not room in the 
dairy or kitchen, they are placed in the salting room or 
pantry, which latter places are often much too cold for 
the purpose, as the whey seldom gets thoroughly ex¬ 
tracted when the presses are in cold situations. 
On the third day, the cheese is again turned once or 
twice, but ought not to require any skewering. The 
heaviest press is now had recourse to, and for a cheese 
of 60 lbs. or 70 lbs. weight about 30 cwt. will be pres¬ 
sure sufficient; but some dairy-maids apply as much as 
two tons, their heaviest press being that weight. A 
cheese-press of this weight, made of a block of red free¬ 
stone, would be 3 ft. 2 in. long, 2 ft. 8 in. wide, and 3 
ft. 2 in. high. 
On the fourth dap, it is usual in most dairies to dis¬ 
continue the pressing, but in others it is continued for a 
day or two longer. 
The cheese is then removed to what is called 
The Salting and Drying Room. —Sometimes these 
are distinct apartments, but more generally one room 
suffices for both purposes. The salt can now, of course, 
be only applied externally; and the good, if any, effec¬ 
ted is to harden the coat of the cheese. The cheese I 
have before alluded to, as having been made with three- 
quarters of a pound of salt, and which was much above 
an average in quality, was removed, as an experiment, 
direct from the press to the cheese room. I am inclined 
to think this is the better system, or at least that a great 
deal of the present labor of the salting-house might be 
dispensed with. 
It is obvious, from the practice in this dairy, that it 
is considered necessary for the cheese to remain in salt 
longer in the middle of summer than at other seasons. 
After this salting, the cheese is w r ell wiped or washed, 
has a clean bandage put round it, and continues in the 
same room, or an adjoining one, on wooden shelves, for 
the purpose of being dried. It is turned once a day, 
and remains until it is considered sufficiently dry for 
being removed to the cheese-? oom. The length of time 
for keeping cheese in the “drying-house ” varies from 
seven to twenty days; and is regulated by the tempe¬ 
rature of the weather, or the cheese-room to which it 
has to be next removed. In hot weather, and especially 
if the cheese-room is exposed to the heat of the noon¬ 
day sun, the change from a too cold drying-house (as 
many often are, except perhaps in the middle of sum¬ 
mer) to a too hot cheese-room, is calculated to cause 
cracks in the cheese, which said cracks have from time 
to time to be filled up by the application of bacon-fat, 
or whey-butter, otherwise mites would soon be genera¬ 
ted, and the appearance of the cheese detracted from. 
To prevent this cracking as much as possible, the salt¬ 
ing and drying houses have rarely if ever the windows 
opened, and drafts or currents of air are 'thereby pre¬ 
vented. This precaution is also adopted in the cheese- 
room; and, in addition, the light is excluded either by 
a shutter or blind, as I have before stated. 
The cheese 1 have before alluded to as having been 
made without any external salting, as an experiment, 
and which was taken direct from the cheese-press to 
the cheese-room, was made in the beginning of June, 
and at the end of September was ready for the market. 
The quality of the cheese was better than that made in 
the ordinary way, and all the labor of the salting and 
drying house was saved. My own impression is, as I 
have already hinted, that the drying-rooms are often 
too cold; and that if it is found to be desirable, as per¬ 
haps it may be in some dairies, to continue the use of 
such drying-rooms, the heat should be kept as near as 
possible at from 50° to 55°. In concluding my remarks 
on this room, I must not omit to observe that it is ne¬ 
cessary the cheeses should remain bandaged, in order to 
prevent their bulging, and also that they should be 
turned over once a day. If one cheese be made daily, 
one will consequently—in the course of a certain time 
after the season of cheese-making commences—have to 
be removed every dayTo the cheese-room . When taken 
to this room, the situation of which I have before de¬ 
scribed, it is usual to scrape and clean the coat of the 
cheese, and to place it in the first instance, in the coolest 
part of the room, often for a few weeks upon shelves or 
benches, which are cooler than the floor, subsequently 
upon the coolest part of the floor, and ultimately upon 
the warmest part. It is usual to continue the bandage 
or 44 fillet ” for several weeks after the cheese gets into 
this room, and indeed in some dairies until it is sold. It 
is also usual to turn the cheeses, and wipe them with a 
cloth daily, for at least three or four months, and every 
alternate day afterwards; and when there are any 
symptoms of cracking, bacon-fat, hogs’-lard, or some 
other fatty substance, is applied. The floor of the 
cheese-room is generally covered with dried rushes, ora 
coarse grass resembling rushes, called “sniddle,” or 
wheat-straw. The floor should be level, otherwise the 
cheeses wiil not be kept easity in shape; and should be 
well washed with hot water and soft-soap about twice a 
year. The temperature of the cheese-room should, 
when attainable, range between 60° and 65°. When 
this is the case, the 4 4 first make ” will generally be 
ready for the factor by September or October, and the 
44 latter-make ” by December or January; but in con¬ 
sequence of many rooms being badly situated and im¬ 
perfectly heated, the farmer very-often does not get his 
cheese into the market until two or three months after 
these respective periods. The object gained in having 
the cheese-room about the temperature I have named 
is three-fold; the perfect fermentation and ripening of 
the cheese, the reduction of labor, and the quicker re¬ 
turn of profit. 
It is usual in this county to sell the cheese by what 
is termed the long hundred (120 lbs. to the cwt.), but 
the factors often require 121 lbs. The price varies with 
the quality of the article, the state of the market, and 
the size of the cheese, for large cheeses always sell for 
more per lb. than smaller ones. There is perhaps noth¬ 
ing more difficult to ascertain than the average price of 
cheese, inasmuch as both farmer and factor make the 
price a secret. The highest I heard of last season was 
72s. per cwt. of 120 lbs.("or a little more than 7<2. per 
lb.; the lowest would probably be about 40s. or 45s. 
Conclusion. —I am aware that a great deal might 
still be said bearing on this subject. The various de¬ 
fects of cheese, the great difference in the flavor, the 
effects of different pasturage and food, and various other 
matters, might be discussed, but it is considered this 
essay is already too long and tedious. I cannot, how¬ 
ever, close my remarks without expressing my admira¬ 
tion of the industry, cleanliness, and frugrality of the 
Cheshire dairy-maids. Their labors are great indeed; 
their cleanliness not to be surpassed; and to their good 
management it is, that the landlord jmay often consider 
himself indebted for the whole of his rent. 
