THE CULTIVATOR, 
143 
than small’ ones. And upon trial, both in garden and field, he has re¬ 
peatedly found that planting whole potatoes, even though large, very 
much increases the crop. In this way, however, they require to be 
planted thinner, as the stems, being stronger and more luxuriant, occu¬ 
py more space.” 
To set this point at rest, five plots of ground of equal size, and as 
nearly as possible of equal quality, were also lately selected by the Lon¬ 
don Horticultural Society for the growth of five different varieties: one- 
half of which being planted with whole tubers, and the other with sets 
containing but one eye each; and, being placed at equal distances— 
eighteen inches apart—the result was as follows: 
Weight when taken up. 
Whole tubers. 
Sin: 
ele eyes. 
Species. 
tons. 
cwt. 
ib. 
tons. 
cwt. 
lb. 
Early manly,. 
..... 17 
10 
4 
18 
19 
82 
Shaw’s,. 
15 
26 
20 
0 
4 
Red-nosed kidney,... 
..... 18 
7 
71 
17 
12 
49 
Pink-eyed Scotch, ... 
. 22 
15 
83 
20 
2 
7 
Champion, ......... 
. 23 
14 
0 
24 
9 
18 
whole tubers appeared 
above ground, 
in 
each instance. 
i three 
four days earlier than the sets, and the haulm became somewhat longer ; 
but the experiment shows that, although the total amount thus estimat¬ 
ed to have been obtained is, 
tons. cwt. lb. 
From whole tubers,. 113 2 17 
-single eyes,. Ill 3 54 
thus giving an apparent difference in five acres of about two tons, yet 
it was hardly more than the difference between the weight of the tu¬ 
bers and the sets originally planted. 
These and other trials, indeed, afford presumptive evidence that sets 
cut from full grown, healthy tubers, are as productive as the whole 
root; for although it is recorded as the opinion of the President of the 
Society, founded upon a great variety of experiments carried on during 
a long series of years, “ that the heaviest crops of potatoes, and those 
most profitable to the grower, will in most soils and seasons be obtain¬ 
ed from tubers of considerable weight, and will be found least subject 
to decay in wet and cold springs; he, however, thinks it extremely pro¬ 
bable that, when the soil is very dry, so as to preclude all grounds of 
fear of the cuttings decaying, more regular and better rows of plants 
might be obtained from single eyes placed at short distances, with a 
moderately large portion of the matter of the tuber, than the whole tu¬ 
bers.” 
It may also be observed that the eyes or beads,—which appear like 
spots upon the skin of the potato—are of different kinds; those at one 
end being more prolific than the other; yet, when planted in sets, some 
farmers cut off both ends, only making use of the part in the middle, 
while others cut it longitudinally—from “ nose to tail”—and set both 
halves indiscriminately; and many scoop out the eyes and plant them 
singly. The stems which spring from that end of the potato into which 
the fibre which connected it with the mother plant, and from which the 
potato itself is gbown, germinate but feebly, and do not attain the same 
size as those which are found upon the other end, which may be seen 
by looking at potatoes in the spring, when they begin to bud: those 
which spring from the top end, having far greater vigor and luxuriance 
than those which spring from the rood end.* 
It is indeed a point which deserves very serious attention; and as the 
other portions of the potato can always be used for other purposes, it 
should never be neglected. Instead, however, of sowing single eyes, 
we should rather recommend the use of the entire cluster of buds which 
will be found on the top-end, or nose, of the tuber.— Library of Useful 
Knowledge, Farmers’ Series. 
MAKING AND PRESERVING CHEESE. 
1. The goodness of cheese, as well as of butter, depends much on the 
quality of the milk. The season, and particular way of making it, 
also have a very considerable influence upon it in this respect—more 
perhaps than the material of which it is prepared. We shall, there¬ 
fore, briefly notice these circumstances. 
2. The best season for this purpose is from the commencement of 
June till the close of September. There is no doubt, however, but that 
good cheese may be made throughout the year, provided the cows be 
well fed in the winter. It is also worthy of attention, that milk abounds 
* The upper or nose end, although the most watery part of the potato, should 
he preferred, as the roots produced from it have been found to become sooner 
ripe, and to be of better quality than those grown from the bottom.— Barm. 
Mag. vol. xviii. p. 27. 
“ In every field of potatoes which I have ever seen, where the cuttings for 
seed were taken from both ends indiscriminately, some of the stems grow with 
much more vigor than others; which proceeds, ! believe, in nine cases out of 
ten, from planting weak sets cut from the root end of the potato.”— Ayton’s 
Sure, of Ayrsh. p. 280. Mr. Knight says that “ the buds which vegetate from 
the lower sides of the tubers produce feeble stems.”— Trans, of Hort. Cult. 
Society. 
most in caseous matter during the spring, and with the butyraceous in 
summer and autumn. 
3. The Cheshire cheese, made in England, is celebrated for its excel¬ 
lence, and we shall give the mode of making it adopted by the Cheshire 
dairy-men. 
4. The thermometer of a Cheshire dairy woman is constantly at her 
fingers’ ends. The heat of the milk when set, is regulated by the 
warmth of the room and the heat of the external air; so that the milk 
may be the proper length of time in sufficiently coagulating. The time 
is generally thought to be about an hour and a half. 
5. The evening’s milk—of suppose twenty cows—having stood all 
night in the cooler and brass pans, the cheese-maker, (in summer,) 
about six o’clock in the morning, carefully skims off the cream, which 
is put into a brass pan. While the dairy-woman is thus employed, the 
servants are milking the cows, having previously lighted a fire under 
the furnace, which is half full of water. 
6 . As soon as the night’s milk is skimmed, it is all carried into the 
cheese tub, except about three-fourths of a brass pan full, (three to 
four gallons,) which is immediately placed in the furnace of hot wa¬ 
ter, in the pan, and is made scalding hot; then half of the milk thus 
heated is poured to the cream, which, as before observed, had been al¬ 
ready skimmed into another pan. 
7. By this means all the cream is liquified and dissolved, so as appa¬ 
rently to form one homogenous or uniform liquid, and in that state it is 
poured into the cheese-tub. But before this is done, several bowls or 
vessels full of new milk, or perhaps the whole morning’s milk, will 
generally have been poured into the cheese-tub. 
8 . In some celebrated dairies, however, they do not, during the whole 
summer, heat a drop of the night’s milk; only dissolve the cream in a 
brass pan, floated or suspended in a furnace of hot water. In other 
dairies, they heat one-third, one-half, or even more than that of the pre¬ 
vious night’s milk. But in all, they are careful to liquify or melt the 
cream well before it is mixed with the milk in the tub. 
9. Whatever may be the general custom in any given dairy respect¬ 
ing the heating of the milk, the practice varies according to the wea¬ 
ther. It is generally on poor clay lands that the milk most requires 
warming. On good rich soils, it will not bear much heating; at least 
by so doing, the process of cheese-making is rendered more difficult. 
10. The process of making cheese is much more difficult than that of 
making butter. The quality depends more on the mode of performing 
that operation than on the richness of the milk. The temperature at 
which the milk is kept before it is formed into cheese, and that at which 
it is coagulated, or turned into curds, are objects of the greatest impor- 
portance in the management of a cheese dairy. The temperature of 
the milk ought not to exceed 55, nor to be under 50 degrees of Fahren¬ 
heit’s thermometer. For coagulating, it should be at 90 to 95 . 
11. If the milk is kept warmer than 55, it will not throw up the 
cream so well as at the lower degree. It is also subject to get sour and 
give a bad taste to the cheese. If it be allowed to be much colder than 
that, it becomes difficult to separate the curd from the whey, and the 
cheese made from it will be soft and insipid. 
12. If the curd be coagulated too hot, it becomes tough; much of the 
butyraceous matter will go off with the whey; and the cheese will be 
hard and tasteless. The thermometer, should, therefore, always be 
employed in every dairy. Although the dairy-women may at first be 
prejudiced against it, yet its evident utility, and great simplicity will 
eventually reconcile them to its use. J ’ 
13. The greatest care should be taken thoroughly to extract every 
particle of whey from the curd. No cheese will keep well while any 
whey remains, and if any part becomes sour, the whole will acquire a 
disagreeable flavor. Similar effects are produced by the use of an im- 
moderate quantity of rennet; it is also apt to blow up the cheese full 
of small holes. This last effect will be produced if it be allowed to re¬ 
main too long one side. 
14. A very experienced dairy-man is of opinion, that from nine to 
twelve months’ time is requisite to ripen cheese of from fourteen to 
twenty pounds weight. It is laid down as a rule, in the process of 
making cheese, that the hotter it is put together, the sounder it will be- 
and the cooler, the richer, and more apt to decay. It should be kept in 
an airy but not in a cold place. If the moderately dried leaves of the 
young twigs of the common birch tree be placed on the surface or sides 
of cheeses, they will be found very serviceable in preventing the de¬ 
predations of mites. 
15. It is a good practice to strew a little dry moss, or fine hay, upon 
the shelves on which the cheese are laid; for when new, they some¬ 
times adhere to the board, and communicate a dampness to it that is 
prejudicial to the other side of the cheese, when turned. It also pro¬ 
motes their drying. y 
16. At a more advanced stage they may be laid upon straw • but at 
first, it would sink into, and deface the surface. To which we will add 
as general maxims—that great cleanliness, sweet rennet, and attention 
to the heat of the milk and breaking the curd, are the chief requisites 
in cheese-making.— Farmers’ School Book. 
