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DAIRY-FARMIN G

the power of any dairyman to prepare what is practically a pure culture of the same bacterium as is supplied from the laboratory. Moreover, the sour-whey starter used by some of the successful cheese-makers before the introduction of the American system is in effect a pure culture, from which it follows that these men had, by empirical methods, attained the same end as that to which bacteriological research subsequently led. Wherever a starter is necessary, the use of a culture practically pure is imperative, whether such culture be obtained from the laboratory or prepared by what may be called the “ home-made starter. Pure cul-, tures may be bought for a few shillings in the open market. The factory-made cheese of Canada, the United States, and Australasia, which is so largely imported into the United Kingdom, is all of the Cheddar type. The factory system has made no headway in the original home of the Cheddar cheese in the West of England. The system was thus described in the Journal of the British Dairy Farmers’ Association in 1889 by Mr R. J. Drummond “In the year 1885 I was engaged as cheese instructor by the Ayrshire Dairy Association, to teach the Canadian system of Cheddar cheese-making. I commenced operations under many difficulties, being a total stranger to both the people and the country, and with this, the quantities of milk were very much less than I had been in the habit of handling. Instead of having the milk from 500 to 1000 cows, we had to operate with the milk from 25 to not over 60 cows. “ The system of cheese-making commonly practised in the county of Ayr at that time was what is commonly known as the Joseph Harding or English Cheddar system, which differs from _ the Canadian system in many details, and in one particular is essentially different, namely, the manner in which the necessary acidity in the milk is produced. In the old method a certain quantity of sour whey was added to the milk each day before adding the rennet, and I have no doubt in my own mind that this whey was often added when the milk was already acid enough, and the consequence was a spoiled cheese. “Another objection to this system of adding sour whey was, should the stuff be out of condition one day, the same trouble was inoculated with the milk from day to day, and the result was suie to be great unevenness in the quality of the cheese. The utensils commonly in use were very different to anything I had ever seen before ; instead of the oblong cheese vat with double casings, as is used by all the best makers at the present time, a tub, sometimes of tin and sometimes of wood, from 4 to 7 feet in diameter by about 30 inches deep, was universally in use. Instead of being able to heat the milk with warm water or steam, as is commonly done now, a large can of a capacity of from 20 to 30 gallons was filled with cold milk and placed in a common hot-water boiler, and heated sufficiently to bring the whole body of milk in the tub to the desired temperature for adding the rennet. I found that many mistakes were made in the quantity of rennet used, as scarcely any two makers used the same quantity to a given quantity of milk. Instead of having a graduated measure for measuring the rennet, a common tea-cup was used for this purpose, and I have found in some dairies as low as 3 oz. of rennet was used to 100 gallons ol milk, where in others as high as 6^ oz. was used to the same quantity. This of itself would cause a difference in the quality of the cheese. “ Coagulation and breaking completed, the second heating was effected by dipping the whey from the curd into the can already mentioned, and heated to a temperature of 140° F., and returned to the curd, and thus the process was carried on till the desired temperature was reached. This mode of heating I considered very laborious and at the same time very unsatisfactory, as it is impossible to distribute the heat as evenly through the curd in this way as by heating either with hot water or steam. The other general features of the method do not differ from our own very materially, with the exception that in the old method the curd was allowed to mature in the bottom of the tub, where at the same stage we remove the curd from the vat to what we call a curdcooler made with a sparred bottom, so as to allow the whey to separate from the curd during the maturing or ripening process^ In regard to the quality of cheese on the one method compared with the other, I think that there was some cheese just as fine made in the old way as anything we can possibly make in the new, with one exception, and that is, that the cheese made according to the old method will not toast—instead of the casein melting down with the butter-fat, the two become separated, which is very much obiected to by the consumer—and, with this, want of uniformity through the whole dairy. This is a very short and imperfect description of how the cheese was made at the time I came into

[cheese AND CHEESE-MAKING.

Ayrshire ; and I will now give a short description of the system that has been taught by myself for the past four years, and has been the means of bringing this county so prominently to the front as one of the best cheese-making counties in Britain. “Our duty in this system of cheese-making begins the night before, in having the milk properly set and cooled according to the temperature of the atmosphere, so as to arrive at a given heat the next morning. Our object in this is to secure, at the time we wish to begin work in the morning, that degree of acidity or ripeness essential to the success of the whole operation. We cannot give any definite guide to makers how, or in what quantities, to set their milk, as the whole thing depends on the good judgment of the operator. If he finds that his milk works best at a temperature of 68° F. in the morning, his study the night before should tend toward such a result, and he will soon learn by experience how best to manage the milk in his own individual dairy. I have found in some dairies that the milk worked quite fast enough at a temperature of 64° in the morning, where in others the milk set in the same way would be very much out of condition by being too sweet, causing hours of delay before matured enough to add °the rennet. Great care should be taken at this point, making sure that the milk is properly matured before the rennet is added, as impatience at this stage often causes hours of delay in the making of a cheese. I advise taking about six hours from the time the rennet is added till the curd is ready for salting, which means a six-hours process ; if much longer than this, I have found by experience that it is impossible to obtain the best results. The cream should always be removed from the night’s milk in the morning and heated to a temperature of about 84° before returning it to the vat. To do this properly and with safety, the cream should be heated by adding about two-thirds of warm milk as it comes from the cow to one-third of cream, and passed through the ordinary milk-strainers. If colouring matter is used, it should be added fifteen to twenty minutes before the rennet, so as to become thoroughly mingled with the milk before coagulation takes place. “ We use from 4 to 4^ oz. of Hansen’s rennet extract to each 100 gallons of milk, at a temperature of 86° in spring and 84° in summer, or sufficient to coagulate milk firm enough to cut in about forty minutes when in a proper condition. In cutting, great care should be taken not to bruise the curd. I cut lengthwise, then across with perpendicular knife, then with horizontal knife the same way as the perpendicular, leaving the curd in small cubes about the size of ordinary peas. Stirring with the hands should begin immediately after cutting, and continue for ten to fifteen minutes prior to the application of heat. At this stage we use a rake instead of the hands for stirring the curd during the heating process, which lasts about one hour from time of beginning until the desired temperature of 100° or 102° is reached. After heatin;r, the curd should be stirred another twenty minutes, so as to become properly firm before allowing it to settle. We like the curd to lie in the whey fully one hour after allowing it to settle before it is ready for drawing the whey, which is regulated altogether by the condition of the milk at the time the rennet is added. At the first indication of acid, the whey should be removed as quickly as possible. I think at this point lies the greatest secret of cheesemaking—to know when to draw the whey. ‘ ‘ I depend entirely on the hot-iron test at this stage, as I consider it the most accurate and reliable guide known to determine when the proper acidity has been developed. To apply this test, take a piece of steel bar about 18 inches long by an inch wide and 4 inch thick, and heat to a black heat: if the iron is too hot, it will burn the curd ; if too cold, it will not stick ; consequently it is a very simple matter to determine the proper heat. Take a_ small quantity of the curd from the vat and compress it tightly m the hand, so as to expel all the whey ; press the curd against the iron, and when acid enough it will draw fine silky threads i inch long. At this stage the curd should be removed to the curd-cooler as quickly as possible, and stirred till dry enough to allow it to mat, which generally takes from five to eight minutes. The curd is now allowed to stand in one end of the cooler for thirty minutes, when it is cut into pieces from 6 to 8 inches square and turned, and so on every half-hour until it is fit for milling. After removing the whey, a new acid makes its appearance in the body of the curd which seems to depend for its development upon the action ot the air, and the presence of which experience has _ shown to be an essential element in the making of a cheese. _ This acid should be allowed to develop properly before the addition of salt, lo determine when the curd is ready for salting, the hot-iron test is again resorted to ; and when the curd will draw fine silky threads U inch long, and at the same time have a soft velvety feel when pressed in the hand, the butter-fat will not separate with the whey from the curd. I generally advise using 1 lb of salt to 50 lb ol curd, more or less, according to the condition of the curd. Auer salting, we let the curd lie fifteen minutes, so as to allow the salt to be thoroughly dissolved before pressing. “ In the pressing, care should be taken not to press the curd too severely at first, as you are apt to lose some of the butter-tat, and