222 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the gang of blades being set at an angle of 45 deg. with the bot¬ 
tom of the vat. It is now gently lifted with the hands, and 
the process of breaking or subdivision completed. Then a 
slow heat is begun to be applied to the mass; the curd, mean¬ 
while, being stirred to keep it from packing, until a tempera¬ 
ture of 96 deg. is reached. This is the highest heat to which 
the curds are subjected. 
When the curds have acquired a sufficiently firm consis¬ 
tency, the whey is drawn, and the curds thrown upon a sink 
to drain and cool, after which they may be run through a curd 
mill and salted, and then put to press. 
Fig. 18. —The Iron Clad Company's Metallic This metallic hoop is 
Hoop. . * 
an improvement on the 
wooden hoop, as it al¬ 
lows a close fitting follow¬ 
er, and is not liable to 
fall to pieces when out of 
use as with the wooden 
hoop, on account of shrink¬ 
age of the staves and 
loosening of the band irons* 
The rubber ring is an improvement for keeping the edges of 
the cheese smooth and in good order while pressing. It has now 
been thoroughly tested. It prevents the curd from pressing up 
around the follower of a cheese hoop, and takes the place of 
press cloths. 
Fig. 10. — Millar's IIoop and Rubber Ring. 
The above cut represents a cheese hoop cut in too perpen- 
