Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-01-15
The Manufacture of Dairy Cheese.
BY y. DAVIS, JR.

The Manufacture of Dairy Cheese.
BY y. DAVIS, JK.
Rcaf before the Farmers Meeting at u
session of The State Board Of agriculture
held at Ettst Montpelier, January 9, 1874
The manufacture of cheese in the United
States has become n business of great
magnitude. To say nothing of the i'm
men>e quantities used ut home, we expor-
ted to foreign countries in the year 1869,
100000 pounds; in 1867, 5S,O00,000
pounds; while in the year just closed it
reached the enormous quantity of 5000.
900 pounds
1t may be truly said that ju'llcious dairy
farming not only enriches the fertility of
the soil on which it is conducted but also
the party engaged in that business. Con-
sequently this branch of industry is one of
our greatest national blessings. With this
view of our subject we have before us Il
pleasant and laudablc pursuit, on which no
pains or expense should be spared to
thoroughly understand it in i'll all its points
and details.
This may have been already accom-
pliShed to Il certain extent: still there
seems to have been greater effort made to
arrive ut Il correct system in making both
butter and cheese during the past year than
in any prior period The number of
patents granted the past year for watts,
pans. coolers, etc, have been numerous.
and the ultimate results Of these inventions
cannot now be determined
VERMONT AS A DAIRY STATE.
I,
has all the requisites for manufacturing
superior products of the dairy. Her rep
utation is good, but far below what it
ought to be. \ ncighbor of mine made Il
statement before Il meeting of the Board
at Montpelier two Years ago that not three
tubs in ten of the butter sent to market
was OF an extra quality. This is an as
founding revelation of the loose manner
in which we execute our work rs dairy
men, and the same is no less true with
cheese.
With our favorable climate, or pure
cool springs of water, and our sweet pas
lures, there remains nothing but a better,
trre to render Vermont butter and cheese
equal to that Of the best counties of New
\ ork or Pennsylvania
DAIRY STOCK AND THEIR TREATMENT.
| have yet to learn that there IS any
stock superior to the native for cheese
making. 1t is absolutely necessary to
have good COWS; and this implies good
mixers capable of producing milk for
ut least three pounds each of new milk
cheese per day during the best months of
the season. In order to do this Il COW
must be well kept during the winter, and
furnished with abundance of good pastur-
age i'll the milking season. An ample
supply of pure water is particularly re
quired. Dogs and harsh treatment should
be banished from the premises There is
no greater nuisance t. II dai lyman than
dog help; and he who pays Il dog tax to
the collector, usually pays it ten fold from
the profits of his business. Cows will pay
for kind treatment and it is Il serious mat
ter to disturb their natural quictness, US
cheese makers we'll know, from the per
nicious results flowing from over heat
ed milk. Thus dairyman should not
only treat his cows with becoming tender
ne-s but also require his boys and hired
help to do likewise
THE DAIRY SYSTEM.
Never having myself visited u cheese
factory, I would say that all | know of
factory cheese making is gathered from
parties familiar with that business. and
from II few other sources. My experience
has been with the dairy cheese business.
continuing from my boyhood to this date
| purpose to speak of the dairies of this
town, more especially of my fathers. Ow-
ing to the difficulties incident to cheese
making, the number of diaries in this town
have diminished of late years about one
half, while the manufacture of butter has
largely increased.
REQUISITES FOR MAKING GOOD CHEESE.
First of all is pure sweet milk, drawn
from the udder with great care and neat
ness. The utensils must needs be kept
perfectly sweet and clean. The item of
temperature of the milk before it is turned
INTO curd IS of vast Importance. Then
should come Il thorough understanding of
turning out good cheese. We make but
ter mechanically, while in cheese it is
both mechanical and chemical. Hence the
difficulty of cheese making.
Milk is easily tainted. and when once in
that condition no good article of cheese
van W lilOuuOttt HUH IL. w ItU SUBJECTED
to an analysis, milk of an average rood
quality is composed in one hundred parts,
as follows: water, 40; butter. 3.43:
casin, 3.l2; milk sugar, 5.12; mineral
matter. .93 1t is truly wonderful that an
article of food containing so much water
should be so valuable to mankind. The
annual products of this important article
in the United States is estimated nj
$500, 900. The Hon Harris Lewis
says; Milk comes to us loaded with
germs prepared for its own destruc.
ton TO illustrate his meaning: we are
all aware that whenever vegetable or ami
NAL life Is deprived of its vital forces. i. e.,
dies, then follows Il change, and this change
is either decay. fermentation, or putreflc-
ton. BY the use of the microscope we
discover that wherever putrefaction or
fermentation exists, there will be revealed
the presence of living organisms or
fungi. during the heated months this
fungus exists in the dust of the air and
pervades all substances No article is
sooner corrupted by these influences than
milk; and unless we take the requisite
precautions, we cannot make good butter
or cheese. To prevent all such depreda-
lions of these minute organisms, dairy
utensils should be scalded in boiling hot
water. Prof. Caldwell of Cornell Univer-
s1ty, says: s. The great power of the pores
of fungi to retain their vitality gives them
another strong hold on life; they can be
dried. frozen or heated in many cases to Il
temperature short of 2l2 degrees without
injury When any deoaying substance is
known to exist in or about the pastures it
should at once be removed and buried. 1t
is not unfrequent for a dairy or factory to
lose their entire product l.atil the presence
Of carbon was discovered in the pasture
and removed.