Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 846, 15 February 1868, Page 14

Agricultural and Pastoral.

*The if ollowing opinions o£ Mr. Willaxd,! of Little Palls', Herkimer Co.-, New York, see entitled to the attention of all cheese soakers. He has devotedgreat attention to the subject, and tke following extracts are from, his address before the Cheese Manufacturers' Association, at Utica : —

The. old i factories need remodeling. TFhe new factories should be constructed irith particular reference to cleanliness, iflie avoidance of all taints about the buildings likely to be absorbed by the anilk or cheese ; and finally, an arrangement'of the dry-house, so that some uniformity of temperature bopreserved while €he cheese is undergoing the process of curing. There are a large number of factories where no attention is paid to these conditions. Whatever wonderful skill is exercised in the management of the . •milk and in its manufacture into cheese, how is it possible to obtain sweet, clean, and high flavor from milk reeking in emanations from the pigsty, the stench «f putrid whey, or the odours arising from decomposing slops ? How is it possible to obtain high flavored cheese in dry-houses so arranged that no uniformity of temperature is preserved from day to day, in a climate like ours, where the ■thermometer frequently varies from 20 to 30 degrees in twenty-four hours. My friends, I belong to your class, and ■am interested in the success of American Cheese Dairying, and I say to you, earnestly and in good faith, that you are asking too much from the manufacturer, to require him to furnish high priced cheese from imperfect milk — milk that is feverish or diseased, or mingled with filth "before it leaves the stables. Cleanliness is- one cf the virtues, and it is imperatively demanded in the production of Tiice flavored cheese ; to say nothing of the vice of forcing on consumers unclean food arising from carelessness or inatteni;ion on your part. Dogs are a curse among the herds, not only lessening the quantity, but injuring the quality of milk. It is well known that milk, heated and feverish from over driving cows in hot weather, is not a "healthy article of food. Cows that are Jacked and abused will not secrete good milk, and I have yet to learn, that there las been any process of cheese manufacture invented that can convert diseased milk into a healthy diet. Matters of this character should be attended to in every .association. Each member should be required to furnish good, clean, healthy milk, with as much watchfulness and care as water dilutions are guarded against. These are some of the causes that influence flavor. There are others, such as food, water, neglect of salting, &c, which «eed not be considered in this playe. I may remark, however, that Mr Farrington, for many years a cheese dealer in Herkimer County, and a noted expert in the cheese trade, has affirmed that he could detect the daisy taint in cheese, and was able to tell (with the " tryer " at the store-house) when the cheese had been produced on farms overrun with -tin's weed. Leeks, cabbages, and turnips gire a taint to milk and butter, and it must be evident that this influence of food extends also to cheese.

But a radical change should be introduced in the dry-house. Its location in a pure atmosphere, with thorough ventilaiion to carry off noxious emanations that are arising* from the cheese during its process of curing are not the only improvements demanded. Temperature should be under control so that fermentation may be carried on witbuniformity. 3t has been claimed that the superiority of English cheese is due in a great measure to the even temperature of the climate, and yet, with all this advantage of climate, the Cheddar dairymen pay more attention to the ripening process of their cheese than is done in the American factories. The use of the thermometer is as necessary in the dry-house as in the milk-room. Large quantities of well-made cheese are badly spoiled in curing. When the weather is fust right, the curing process goes on without much trouble ; but ■when it is variable, with extremes of heat and cold, damp and dry weather following in rapid succession, the cheese is more or k?ss out of flavor, and no after-treat-ynent will be 1 able to correct the difficulty. The dry-house should not only be arranged with ventilators at the ceilings and wickets at the floors, giving free communication with the air outside, but it should be so ■constructed that a low even temperature be preserved in hot as well as cold weather. The temperature best adapted to caring cheese, in order to secure the fine flavor, is from 68 to 70 degrees.

" 1 wonder where those clouds are going," sighed Flora, pensively, as she pointed with delicate finger to the heavy masses that floated in the sky. " I think they are going to thunder," said her brother.