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228 - REPORT OF THE CHEMIST OF THE 
indicate to the maker that the curd is ready for the press. The 
curd is then mixed with salt and put into a mold or hoop and 
subjected to pressure for at least twelve hours before being 
removed from the hoop. | 
(6.) Cheddar cheese— After the whey has been drained from 
the curd, the curd is packed on opposite sides of the vat, leaving 
a space in the center to enable the whey to drain off more readily. 
After a time the curd becomes packed or matted and is cut into 
pieces of such size as may be convenient to handle. These pieces 
are turned over from time to time to allow the whey to drain 
more quickly. When the curd has become pretty well freed from 
whey, the pieces are doubled, and the process of doubling is con- 
tinued at short intervals until the whole forms a compact pile. 
It is then held at a certain temperature until it assumes a certain 
condition, which the eye and touch of the maker can detect. 
The curd is then torn up, spread out and cooled to about 85° F. 
It is then run through a curd mill, which is a knife made so as to 
cut the curd into square strips, half an inch in diameter. After 
being cut completely, the curd is salted and put to press. 
CHEESE-MAKING AND SCIENCE. 
From the preceding description of some of the difficulties of 
cheese-making, it will be readily seen that there is abundant 
opportunity for purely scientific study. We do not understand 
the reasons for many of the steps in the process. Exactly what 
influences ripening of milk has upon the action of rennet, and 
upon the manufactured product, we can not say definitely; much 
less can we say how the results, whatever they may be, are accom- 
plished. We are not entirely certain that we know the exact 
composition of the casein of milk, and we are quite certain that 
we do not know satisfactorily what particular changes the action 
of rennet produces in the composition of casein. We do not 
know what changes the casein undergoes as the process con- 
tinues and the curd becomes harder. 'The cheese-maker depends 
upon certain signs or indications to tell him when to cut the curd, 
when to draw the whey from the curd and when to put the curd 
to press. The reasons underlying his method he ean not give. 
The average cheese-maker goes through a certain series of opera- 
tions, and gets results such as he can. He does not vary his 
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