PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 889, 15 March 1889, Page 18

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

Letters and articles upon agricultural and pastoral pursuits, from our country friends, will be heartily welcomed, and inserted in this paae of the Mail.

THE DAIRY.

WASHING- BUTTER. One of the principal improvements —or what is considered by many an improvement —introduced of recent years into the manufacture ot butter has been the process of v. ashing it while in the granular stage, and before it has gathered into lumps m the churn. After the temperature and ‘ ripeness ’ of the cream had been looked after at the beginning, and the cliurn driven at the proper speed, the next thing attended to was to stop the operation as soon as the butter formed into granules as big as pinheads or grains of wheat; run out the buttermilk from below, and fill up the ohurn with cold, clean watar, a few turns given, the water changed, and the operation repeated until the water came away clear. The object was to remove all traces of the buttermilk, which contained the caseino, albumen, milk sugar, &c., originally in the milk. Pure butter-Ut doe 3 not readily undergo decomposition .or fermentation of any kind—in common with all Other fats and oils—but the other ingredients of milk do rapidly change, producing rancidity and sourness. 'I ho more of these latter that were extracted from the butter, therefore, the longer it would keep, aud washing did this. Old-fashioned dairymaids, however, held that the operation spoiled the butter, in that it removed or destroyed the line flavoure desired in a firstclass product, and thero arc not wanting many of the boat butter-makers of to day who are of the anno opinion. Further, there is a good deal of scientific evidence against -washing. , It is difficult to define exactly whao the aroma and flavour of butter is, or to state what is the body or chemical product which is , the cause of it. Some hold that it is simply the incipient stages of decay (a form' of fermentation) of the albuminous substances present, and if this is so, it givos a very feasible explanation of the evil effects ot washing. Its object is to remove, as far as possible, the fermentable suDstanoes, and if these are totally washed out then nothing but a mixture of tasteless fats remains incapable of generating a flavour. Of course, too much of these left in would overdo the matter and make the flavour objectionably strong, so that the proper course appears to be a happy medium between tli9 two. At one time the butter-milk was removed by pouuding the lumps by band, and now we have wooden beaters and butter-workers for the same purpose, when hand work is no longer admissible. It must bo acknowledged, however, that these will not removo the objectionable matter from the butter if it has once got mixed up in the lumps, so that perhaps washing once with water would do what we require without spoiling flavour. Some of the most noted butter-makers, however, do pot wash at all, among whom we may mention Mr Fitzgerald, Ireland. Some two or three years ago (1885) a utensil called the • Delaiteuse ’ was exhibited at the Dairy Show at Islington. It was constructed on the same principle as the cream separator, and its object was to remove the butter-milk from butter while in the granular stage by the centrifugal tendency generated when the butter was spun round at a great speed. It was illustrated and described in the Agricultural Gazette at the time, and the above named gentleman was one of the vevy first to ÜBe one in this country. But before its introduction butter was not washed at bis creamery, and it is one of tbo finest brands in the country, and easily commands a good price all the year round. The uteus - .l mentioned, however, is only for use on a large scale, and in it 3 absence we must fall on some other plan. Ifc seems, therefore, that while we cannot do without washing altogether, it should be done as soon as possible, and pounding with beaters or manipulating in the butter-workers carried out as much as may be. The evidence is so strong in this direction that we advise this, notwithstanding all that has been said aud dono by lecturers and demonstrators of recent years in favour of thorough washing. Where salting is practised there is less need of the thorough removal of the buttermilk, because the action of salt is antiseptic, and prevents the decay which ends in rancidity, but as wo do not want to prevent this absolutely—else there is no flavour—we must use means accordingly. "WATER FOR DAIRY STOCK. Dairy animals of all kinds require a very large amount of good water, because, iu addition to that needed in common with others for the support of the body, and for carrying on the .vital processes, such as digestion, perspiration, &e., they must have a supply for the manufacture of milk. The solid port of this fluid bears a very small bulk proportionate to the whole, so that it a cow is yielding, say, four gallons daily, she is secreting nearly four gallons ot waier, which must La/e beeu taken in originally at the mouth, and this in addition to what would be required by a bullock of the same size and weight—say, two or three gallons daily. If this quantity be multiplied by the number of animals in the herd, it will give approximately the amount of water which

must be supplied daily in one way or another. Ifc is not every farm that is provided with a running brook —in fact, tbis.is almost an exceptional state of matters, while those that are, are very liable to have it polluted with sewage from places further up its course. The majority of us have to be satisfied with ponds, and we hope to show that these, if properly managed, are one of the best sources of drinking-water for animals. The principal things to guard against in all waters are impurities, and modern science has shown that these are pretty much confined to the germs of disease, and if such can be excluded, mere mineral salts are not unhealthy unless present in immoderate quantities. Further, stagnation or movement Ims littlo to do with it, as deleterious matters may be present in running water quite as much as in that which is in a-pond, the only point being that they may aicumulate in the latter and are continually swept awqy in the former. The presence of aquatio plants cannot be otherwise than beneficial —such as conferva and duckweed—so long as they are living, because they to a certain extent act as purifiers in absorbing substances developed in decaying matter. There are a great many circumstances which are in favour of pond water as compared with streams. Ifc can be shut off from all outside contamination, and bo kept perfectly healthy irrespective of stagnation. The water should, as far as possible, be eollecsed from drains, and those from pasture in preference to arable land j but that which runs down the surface into the hollows may be perfectly pure. No sewage should be allowed to per. colafce near ifc, and fer this reason ponds near the homestead are always to be looked on with suspicion. The place where the cattle drink should be arranged as far as possible to prevent them from standing in the water and befouling it. All those matters are pretty well within our control, eo that there is no reason why ponds should not contain good water. On the other bund, streams, unless in thinly-populated places, are very liable to pollution, as they are bound to receive all the surplus water of a district, good or bad. In all the outbreaks of infectious disease traced to the water supply of dairy farms, we cannot recall any at the moment in which the cause was the water of the field-ponds, but always to contaminated streams. Better than either is, of course, water procured from springs where there is a sufficient supply to keep up a ponetant stream, and especially if it is on the upper part of the land, so that gravitation can be made use of. Such cases are rare, however, but it appears to U 3 that the water iu the ground, either springs or otherwise, is not utilised a 3 much as it might be. It is almost certain that on every farm pure water can be obtained somewhere by sinking or boring for it. It, of course, requires to be pumped up, and ifc is in the matter of pump* ing that there is room for improvement. Everyone who has looked through an American farm paper must have been struck with the immense number of advertisements of windmill pump:? there displayed, and cannot but wonder that such things are not adopted here. On the undulating prairies where there are no streams, and where the rainfall is nil in summer, the farmers have to draw on the store of water deep in the soil, and have called in the aid of the wind for this purpose. The principle is the Abyssinian tube-well, with the pump bucket worked by a connecting rod aud crank on the axis of a small windmill. The latter is made self-adjusting, to suit the of the wind, and the vanes of the ‘ sails ’ — which fill up the whole circle of the wheel—are balanced by a spring, bo as to expose surface to suit the strength of the wind. It works night and day whenever there is a breeze, and can easily keep a pond full, or a tank, raised up to suit gravitation purposes. Windmills for grinding and other purposes have been an old-established motive power, and it is strange that we have not adopted it for this work on farms. They might be erected wherever water is found, within a reasonable depth, and be easily removed if a better place is afterwards found. A very small power is requisite—a half horse-power or even one quarter being suffioient —requiring the wheel to be from Oft to 1011 in diameter. HOW TO SPOIL A DOW. The greatest drawback in dairy work is the difficulty iu obtaining honest, faithful servants. So far as pecuniary matters are concerned there is generally no complaint to make ; but thero is another kind of honesty which* is very scarce. The majority of milkmen are neither 3tricfc nor particular in the performance of tlie.r when the master’s eye is not upon them. Iho master cannot leave the milking-shed in their sole charge, and he cannot trust the servants to treatTthe cows with gentleness, and to milk them quickly, but without Hurry, and at the same time to do the work thoroughly. Very few if any, people can find pleasure in milking a number of cows morning and evening for month after month, but yet ifc must be done with the Most perfect regularity and thoroughness. The udder must be omptied to the last drop, and if this is not done every time, the supply will fall short every time—that is, that nature, finding that more milk has been produced than is required will abstain from producing so much milk, and devote the food to the production of fat or ot mu sole. A!t anybody can milk a cow, hut thero arc lew who eau do it proper,y. It is an art, and the man who can praotise it is worth more to the dairyman than any other help. The ari of milking is to draw it off steadily, quickly (by no means hurriedly), and completely. Scarcely any two cows arc exaotly alike in disposition W<‘ t&e

character or nature of their teats and udder. Some are hard to milk and have small aper* tures; some have tender teats; some are quite easy to milk ; some cows are phlegmatic,others are lively and nervous, Nowit.is extremely difficult to find a servant who will trouble himself to study the individualities of the various cows and try to humour their caprices or adopt his plans to their peculiar! ti es He wants to get through his * job ’ as quickly and easily as possible. The easy-milk cow is his favourite, and cornea off by far the best, but he sits down beside the hard milker with a kind of grudge against her supposed failing He expects some trouble with the timid one, and this very fact is likely to make the trouble appear. The animals know him and bis temper and moods far better than he knows theirs. They may be humoured and put into a good humour. They may be forced into submission, but they ought instead to be coaxed or persuaded into willing compliance. If they are roughly handled, approached hastily, and without any care for their * mood,' it irritates and worries them, the fretting, the agitation, and the worry make them fall in quantity, and within a very short time the decrease in yield is quite marked. The worßt of it is that a return to proper treatment will not leatore the former condition of things when the supply has fallen off through wrong treatment, through the employment of a careless servant ; it cannot be restored by entrusting the cows to the care of even the most careful person. Under proper feeding and kindly treatment the udder of the cow becomes distended with milk at regular intervals, and when the time comes she looks forward to be relieved of her burthen. If the milkman understands the cow she looks to him as her friend, and yields.up her milk with pleasure, because the distention of the udder is painful to a certain extent.. But when a cow becomes troublesome, tries to kick over the pail, won’t give down her milk, and so on, there is a cause for it, and the cause will generally' be found outside the cow—she has not been properly treated, and she resents ifc. If her delivery is slow, per. haps the milkman has been too hurried, and hurts the teats in trying to force the flow ; if timid, be may have beeu too hasty or abrupt. At any rate, it is always safe to look first for the fault in the man and not in the cow. Cows do not like to be kept too lono- waiting to be milked, and thoy are even capable of jealousy if one cow is milked out of her turn to the neglect of another. Regularity in feeding, in milking, and perfect gentleness and kindness in dealing with the cows are essential to success. Any breach of these desir'erata is inevitably marked by a falling off in the yield and a consequent diminution of profits. In a large dairy, where perhaps 50 or 150 cows are milked, it would pay well to give a good salary to a foreman of the milkers, whose solo duty it should be to see that the cows are properly treated aud carefully milked. He would test each cow, and also keep a perfect record of the yield of each at every milking. I he scales alone would tell him whether the milkmen were doing their duty lathfully. Australian Weekly Times. SIMPLE RULES FOR BUTTERMAKING. Rinse in cold water all dairy utensils to be used, such as churn, butter-worker, wooden butter hands, &c. . Now scald with hot water, and rinse again with cold. Always use a thermometer. The churn and cream to be at a temperature of 56deg. to 58dog. iu Bummer, aud 60deg. in winter. . Ventilate the churn freely and frequently during churning, until no air rushes out when vent peg is taken out. Churn at 40 to 45 revolutions per Ttop' churning immediately the butter comes. This can be ascertained by the sound ; if in doubt, look. . , The butter should now be like grains of mustard seed. . , ... Draw off the butter-milk, and wash the butter iu the churn with plenty of cold water. Turn the churn two or three times very gently, then draw off the water, and repeat the process until the water drawn off is quite clear and free from butter-mils. Make a strong brine and pour into the churn through a hair sieve. Wash the butter thoroughly and draw off the brine ; take the butter out of the churn and put it on the butter worker, which use until every drop of butter-milk is pressed out of the the butter. ... N.B. Never touch the butter with your hands. ... Another rule, or, perhaps a wrinkle, may be added to the useful directions above ; ana ifc is this : scour the utensils used iu making up the butter with salt, either occasionally, or regularly, as required. With all due scalding in hot water, and rinsing m cola, the pails and hands, &c., will get greasy sometimes, in which state the butter will stick, giving no end of trouble, and spoiling both the look and the flavour. The mode is as follows : —After the scald, ing process wring the woollen dishcloth—the special one that should be kept for the dairy and used for nothing else—very dry, fold it, and sprinkle a little salt on it. Before this has time to melt rub it over the bottom and sides of the butter pail, the wooden hands, &c., and then rinse them well in cold water, and anyone, who does not already know o it, will be delighted with the result. _ The best rule for good butfcer-making is to attend to the cream ; to see, first of all, tnat the milk is brought into the dairy m a clean state, which may be easily observed, as dust, hairs, &0., float up to the top, and soon Detray their presence ; next, that the vesse to receive it are thoroughly scalded, nover allowed to stand with spoiled milk m them ; then lot the person in charge attend carelully to the skimming, not doing it in twenty-four hours, or even twice, bn J as often as the cream is ripe, which varies every day with the weather, and which may be known by putting it back from t e jof the dish with the little huger, and it it parts evenly from the milk below, it is r y for skimming, and the sooner it isj into the cream crock the better. This should b stirred every time fresh cream is a . With good cream it is comparatively easy to

make good butter; but some dairymaids seem to have the idea that if the cream is not up to the mark the churn will put all right, while the reverse is the case. ESTABLISHMENT OF DAIRY SCHOOL. We have received a copy of a lecture delivered by Mr H. J. Webb, at Aspatria lately on the occasion of a public meeting being called to determine the advisability of starting a dairy school at the Agricultural College there. The following are extracts : - 1 Education Wanted. —There is probably no subject attractii g more attention in agricultural circles in England than dairy education. The growing of grain on poor land seems to be carried on at a loss in England, owing to the unequal competition with countries like America, India, Russia, and Egypt. Farmers, at last recognising this fast, have In many instances laid down a good deal of their land to grass, and turned their attention to the production of mutton, beef, and dairy produce. For ’the production of good mutton and beef England cannot be beaten, but, as far as butter and cheese are concerned, England is behind every country in Europe, and farmers find to their cost that English butter will not fetoh in the market as much by 2d a pound as butter from Denmark and Normandy. What is the cause of this ?—l. Want of uniformity in quality. 2. Want of education. Uniformity can only be obtained by cooperation among dairy farmers, and by the adoption of the same methods of manufaeture. What is required, then, is co-opera-tion and education. The late secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society was of opinion that the British dairy farmers would never obtain the best results from their farms until they adopted a Bystem of co-operation as they do on the Continent. But before we can successfully compete with foreign nations in the production of butter or cheese we must have a proper systom of dairy education. We can do nothing without education, the time is past for British farmers to live and work by rule of thumb. The application of science to agrioulture and the introduction of machinery has altered the whole position of farming. Scientific farming is no longer the great joke of the practical man. During the last century England and Ireland exported butter to all parts of Europe, even as far as St. Petersburg, and foreign butter was of such bad quality that it was never eaten in England. Now everything is changed. England pays twelve millions of money to foreign nations for butter alone, and English butter fetohes the lowest price in the market. I will explain to you in as few words as possible the systems for making butter adopted by the two chief butter countries of Europe—France and Denmark. I select these two countries for the following reasons : Ist, because in describing the Frenoh method I believe I shall be describing the best system of making fresh butter, for wo get our best fresh butter from Normandy; and in describing the Danish system 1 shall give you the best system of keeping butter, the butter from Donmark being the best for this purpose. 2. The Feknch System. —ln Normandy and Brittany the dairy is of supreme iinpor. tance and everything else is quite subservient to it. Milking takes place twice, and in moat cases thrice a day by milkers with carefully washed hands. All the utensils used in the process of butter-making are very simple, and they are kept scrupulously clean. The dairy is always placed on the floor in a cool place facing the north, and In a spot where water is readily accessible. Ventilation is carefully looked to. The Frenoh are most particular to have their dairies as far as possible from all stableß, piggeries, &c., so as to prevent any unpleasant effluvia reaching the dairy. A thermometer is always used so that they can churn at the same uniform temperature from 50deg. to 53deg. Fahrenheit. This temperature is maintained by cooling in summer and warming in winter. The skimming takes place while the milk is perfectly sweet, and placed in stone vessels to ripen. It is a most important thing to remember that the sooner milk is skimmed and ripened, the more delicate is the flavour of the butter, and the higher the price it obtains in the market. The simplest of barrel churns are mostly used, and butter comes in the least time when the temperature is 57deg. F. In winter the churn is warmed before the cream is poured in, and churning takes place in the middle of the day. In summer the coolest period of the day is selected, and the churn is half filled with cold water, and allowed to stand for some time before using. Careful attention having been given to the temperature and the speed of the churn* the operation is carried on until the butter has begun to come in suiali' particles, not larger than a grain of mustard seed. If the operation is continued beyond this point, the Bmall particles of butter cohere and imprison amongst them small drops of butter-milk. This butter-milk can never be properly extraoted from the batter when it once gets in; and, as it decomposes very easily, turns the butter rank. The next process is that of washing the butter. The butter-milk is drawn off, and clean cold water is substituted. Three or four turns of the churn are given, and the water is drawn off. This is repeated until the water comes out aa clear as when it went in. After this the butter requires only a little consolidation with a wooden worker for choioe, although many use their hands. The butter is generally made on the day before the market day in the nearest town, and ,the lump of butter is wrapped in a clean linen cloth. In the market are butter-factors who buy up a large number of lumps of butter of various sizes and different qualities, which, at the close of the market, they send to their factories. At these factories the lumps of bntfcer are sorted aooording to their different qualities, and those of each quality are mixed up together by machinery. Asa result of this process all the packages of the same brand are of the same quality. The French are also "very particular as to manner of packing ; thus, being able to supply an article of good uniform quality and well packed, they are able to get a good price. I might mention that the competition among the factors in Normandy and Brittany is so great that the

afrnef is certain to gdin the market value of iia produce. 3. The Danish Si stem.— Twenty years »go Danish butter was the worst in the marret.Jnow it ia perhaps the beat, and certainly he beat butter for keeping. It ia important o notice that this change has been brought ,bout by the application of scientific irinciples to their manufacture and the instiution of efficient dairy schools throughout :he country, which are supported by the Government. The essential difference in the nannfaoture of French butter and Danish antter results from the fact that French butter ia eaten almost directly, and is not made to keep any great length of time ; whereas Danish butter ia essentially keeping butter. In Denmark the dairy farms are much larger than in Normandy, keeping from 50 to 300 cows. The cream is separated from the fresh milk by a separator, and then let to ripen till tha next day. It is necestary that the cream should be ripe or acid, rot only for the development of flavour, but Jo obtain a larger percentape of butter. In the machine generally used is that mown as a Holstein churn. The process is isaentially the same as for making fresh •.utter up to the point when fresh butter first logins to come. Then, instead of washing he butter-milk out of the butter, no water 3 used, but the butter is taken out of the ,utter-milk while it is in a granular state, nd then the butter-milk is pressed or queezed out, generally by hand. Mr enkins, from whom I have derived a great eal of my information on continental dairy arming, has pointed out that the system of laking frestTbutter is essentially a wet pro. ess, while that of keeping butter is essentilly n dry one, although the principles of the vo processes and the preliminary stages of oh are identical. In conclusion, let me , y that I think the time is uot very far .istant when England will be able to produce utter in quality and quantity equal to any ther country in Europe. Agricultural lazette. MILK PRESERVATION. We take the following instructive letter rom the Agricultural Gazette. It does, Indeed, contain ‘ a wrinkle ’ of immense imoortance to dairy farmers ' Has ‘ Z.’ tried glacialine as a milk preservative ? I have recommended it on former ccoasions to readers of the Agricultural Gazette : but for the benefit of new subscribers, I will transcribe .the result of an experiment I made with glacialine some years ago, and I may say that Istill entertain the highest opinion of its efficacy, and, what is greatly to the purpose, its tasteless, odourless, colourless, or perfectly harmless characteristics. * Three-quarters of an ounce of glacialine was melted in half a pint of warm water, and allowed to stand till cold j a pint of new drawn milk was then divided equally into two tumblers, and to one of these a tablespoonful of the glaciaane was well stirred ; the tumblers were then pat aside in a close cupboard, in a temperature of between 65deg. and 70deg., and examined every twelve hours. At the end of the first twelve, there was no taint on either ; at the end of the second, or twenty-four hours after being milked, the one without the glacialine waß perceptibly tainted, the other being perfectly sweet ; at the third trial, thirty-six hours after, the one without the glacialine was clotted on the top and quite sour, the other being still sweet, and the cream thick and soft; at forty-eight hours it was still unchanged, and the same at the tumbler without the added fluid showed a solid mass, and was thoroughly acid. Ihe milk with the glacialine that had stood sixty honrs was then turned into a saucepan, and put on the fire, and at new milk heat it tasted exactly as if it had been fresh drawn from the cow. It was then allowed to boil, and showed no trace of curdling whatever. —A.L.O.S. TEACHING A CALF TO DRINK. The following instructions how to teach a calf to drink, when it is first removed from the oow, seems to one, who has often tried, to be remarkably clearly stated. They come from the Albany Cultivator and Country Gentleman of August 16th. ‘ Twelve hours after the calf has boon removed from the oow I take in hand the first feeding. I put part of tb6 newly-drawn milk, of its own mother, into a tin pail; get into the pen, as quietly as possible, so a 3 not to alarm the calf. If it has made acquaintance with me, whilst 1 was milking the dam, ft will generally act friendly : and may put its head into the pail; but generally I have to hack them into the

corner of the peu, place the pail between my knees, with one hand press the head down until it enters the milk, but not so deeply as to prevent it from breathing through the nostrils. Then I place two fingers of the other hand in the milk, not so tightly squeezed together but what the suction of the calf will draw up as large a stream of milk as would escape from a cow’s teat. As soon as the calf has got a good taste of the milk, and is busily engaged in sucking the .fingers, remove the hand from the back of ?the head jit is best to teach a calf as soon !as possible that you have no intention to smother it in the pail. At first let the calf have in its mouth as much of the fingers as it grasps at : but gradually as it is sucking withdraw all but the very tips, and then altogether. Many will drink on the seoond day, and most on the third j though here and there, you will have a fool calf, that don’t seem to bavs any idea except of being stub--1 born. If you keep your temper these should drink on the fourth day. I take part only of the dam’s milk to begin with, because it is alljthe calf wants, and it makes the pail lighter to hold. I take the dam’s milk because the calf has learnt the smell of that, and it is of the right age for the calf to thrive on. I take a tin pail because tin ia easiest to J keep free from smell. Calves have as keen any organ of smelling as n foxhound.

PARMESAN AND GORGONZOLA CHEESE.

In an excellent paper contributed by Mr Joseph Rigby to the Journal of the Royal Manchester, Liverpool, and North Lancashire Agricultural Society on the dairyfarming of Lombardy, we find the following descriptions of the method of making Par mesan and Gorgonzola cheese : Parmesan. —Tfie night’s milk is sieved into shallow copper pans, holding 50 litres each. They are about half-filled. The cream is taken off in the morning and used for butter-making. The morning’s milk is sieved into the copper cauldron already referred to, and the skimmed evening’s milk is added. The tamperatute is raised to 98 deg. Fahr., and the rennet added, the quantity of rennet used being small. The milk should not ‘ coagulate * under an hour (and when the word * coagulate' is used here and elsewhere it will mean that the curd has just got to that consistency that if a boxwood skewer is put point downwards in it it will stand upright, not leauing to one side or the other). After coagulation it remains fifteen minutes, then a * Spino,’ or breaker peculiar to this olass of making, is taken and the curd broken up rapidly until the size of Indian corn, so causing loss of cream and cheesy matter ; then it is allowed to settle a few minutes, the colouring is now added in the proportion of one-sixth ounce of saffron to twenty-five gallons of milk. The cauldron is then swung over the fire and the temperature raised to 125 deg. Fahr., the stirring being continued slowly all the time ; this takes about an hour. The grains of curd are now much smaller, and if slightly pressed in the hand they adhere, bat are elastic and moderately firm to the touch. The cauldron is then swung off the fire, the curd allowed to Bink to the bottom, and the whey laded out ; three gallons of cold water are now added to reduce the temperature, so that the maker can work in the mass with his hands. He then secures his right leg to a rope, fastened to a stake in the ground, goeß down head-first into the cauldron, and presses the curd together ; then he takes a cheese-cloth, passes It under the curd, and with the help of an assistant draws it out ; then it is put in a wooden tub which has been filled with the hot whey laded out, and remains an hour, after which it is put in a wooden hoop of suitable size standing on a sheet of buckrair. ; in an hour it is turned, and again in forty-eight hours, when it is taken to the salting-room, which is kept at a temperature of 60 deg. Pahr. and moderately moist. The salting begins by sprinkling a handful of coarse salt on one side ; in two days it is turned and the other side salted, after which it is turned and salted twice weekly from four to six weeks according to its size, a white crust indicating a good cheese j then it is scraped to remove the adhering salt and turned and oiled with linseed oil once weekly until sold: these are the practices followed in spring and snmmer. In autumn, after the skimming of the evening’s milk, the morning’s milk is added to it and stands until noon, when it is again skimmed, and then poured into the cauldron. Some makers use only sufficient rennet to coagulate the milk in three hours, that is in the autumn and early spring, for they desire to develop a little more acidity and less elasticity of the curd after * cooking ’ it, maintaining that this will produce a better cheese ; and all agree that a moderate amount of acidity is essential to success. The making of cheese in copper cauldrons causes it to present, when cut, a greenish appearance, no doubt owing to a slight trace of copper being dissolved by the lactic acid of the whey, and so colouring the curd.' At and about Parma, from which town the cheese takes its name, the making is carried out in steel or iron cauldrons, and the cheeses are pressed for a few hours with a large stone directly after being made, and when ripe they are of a characteristic bright yellow colour, readily distinguishable from the greeni ih-tinted cheese made in the Milan and and Lodi districts. The cream taken off the milk is churned the morning after being skimmed in Swiss churns, which resemble a grindstone in shape ; the butter is gathered in a lump in the churn, taken out and worked into a * horse-shoe ’ shape, and sent off at once to the butter-blender, who re-works it, classes it according to its quality, packs it in firkins, and despatches it to his agent to sell. Part of the whey is put in a boiler, heated, then the ‘ fleetings ’ or albumen ave thrown up, these being a perquisite of the assistants. Gorgonzola.— The rennet is added to tha milk as soon as it is drawn from the oow ; the temperature should not be allowed to fall below 85 deg. Fahr. Enough is used to coagulate it in twenty-five or thirty-five minutes ; it is then carefully broken up, and in the case of the night’s milk, it is laded into cheese-cloths, about three gallons in each, and hung on pegs over a drainer until morning. The morning’s milk is treated similarly and hung up for about fifteen minutes ; the two curds are then taken and filled in wooden hoops, in the inside of which a cheeae-cloth has been placed ,* care is then taken that the warm curd of the morning is kept to the side, and the top and bottom of the hoop, so that it will unite and form a smooth crust, and that the oold curd of the evening is kept in the centre ; this never properly unites, and it is in the spaces left that the blue mould begins to grow as the cheese ripens. In an hour after making the cheese is turned, and three or four times during the day ; at night the cloth is taken off; then it is turned once daily for three or four days, when the salting begins, and experience with practical knowledge can only direct a maker when to begin and when to leave it off; some take thirty days to complete it, some twenty, and others only six. The temperature of the dairy in whion these operations go on should be 60 deg, Faihr. When the salting is finished the cheese is taken to a drying-room for several days, and bright pink spots will begin to

form on the coat if it has been well made, otherwise it will begin to go soft and greycoloured, gradually turning to black. From this room the cheese is taken to the curing cellar, which is kept at 60 deg. Fahr., and there it is turned every other day for four or five mouths until ripe. The making of this cheese is not considered a matter of special skill, but it is the salting and ripening and surroundings of it during ripening on which its quality greatly deponds. The conditions of the growth of the blue mould peculiar to this cheese and to Stilton have been little studied by scientists, but in practice it is known that too much salt or an over-amount of aoidity will check the growth of the fungus ; moisture is also essential to its development. No maker of Gorgonzola desires to have anything but a trace of acidity in the curd, first, because too much of it will cause the cheese to get too firm and dry, and second, because other flavours will not develop in its presence. Stilton makers, while they want no other flavour bat that peculiar to the * blue mould,’ are aware that it will not develop in an over-acid cheese or until the acidity seems to have been destroyed in the ripening. The flavour of a Gorgonzola is very different from a Stilton. Some authorities attribute this to the presence of a ferment which attacks and splits up some of the fatty others to the ‘fermenting of the mould,’ but this is a doubtful expression, as a mould cannot ferment; and yet others say, and probably this is a true explanation, ‘ vital ferments, or those that remarkably stimulate them, are concerned with the production of certain changes accompanying fungoid growths,’ This problem is worth attention, for perfect success in making this cheese in England depends on the knowledge of the conditions necessary to the development of these ferments and fungi. A ripe cheese should have a clear ‘ mushroom’ smell, be well marked with the fungoid growth, and be soft and mellow to the touch.