The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-07-15
AGRICULTURAL.


DAIRY, addressed TO the dairymen OF Crawford
County, PENN, who were requested to ask
such questions as might be suggested by the
subjects under discussion. We give few
extracts from this address, and few of the
replies to questions answered, as reported in
The Ddirynldn. Prof. Arnold commenced
by stating that, although some cheesemakers
preferred to follow the ruts already worn, yet
he hoped he might be able to interest lovers
OF progress in some new ideas that would
tend to work an innovation in the art of
cheese-making. 1t is necessity which drives
men out of old ruts into new modes OF
thoughts and practice. This is particularly
so of cheese-making. Prices of dairy pro-
ducts have fallen SO low that it is barely pos
sible for dairymen to keep up; hence they
strive to lessen the cost of production and
manufacture.
The first step in this direction is to provide
good cows. Prof, Stewart estimates that it
takes two-thirds of what COW eats to sus-
tain her life. Prof. Arnold continued by say
ing that he estimated this at four-ffths.
There is, then, but one-third to one fifth of
the cows food which goes to milk. Two.
thirds OF the cows in the United States do
not make their owners cent of profit; hence
there is great necessity for keeping better
cows. Probably dairymen lose more from
scant feeding than from any other source, if
we except poor cows. As regards reducing
Soot w mnuuidCGuIc, III las De6u already re-
ouced about as low as it can be without
shutting up the factories altogether, which
would result in a retrograde movement to the
old methods.
We need to increase the value of the prod
uct we are apt to think that if cheese will
sell that is all we want. This is a mistake,
10 illustrate which Prof. Arnold gave an ac-
count OF some experiments recently made by
him. He compared full-cream cheese, newly
made and rnoda Lost inf abar
with samples of foreign cheese; also some
Holland, some English, Cheddar and some
French Rocquefort cheese. He took some
pepsin and hydrochloric acid, initiating as
nearly as possible, arti6cially, the gastric or
stomachic juices and their digestive proper
ties. He found the Roquefort cheese, two
years old, containing about twenty per cent.
OF moisture, digested in II hours; Dutch
(Edam) in two hours; third variety in 2a
hours; fourth in "a hours; but the sample
OF our own make, nine months old contain
Ing forty per cent of moisture, required four
hours for digestion, and even then by far
the greater portion was left undigested. Ex-
periments in relation to solidity gave about
the same results. In every case American
cheese took more time, and lett far more sed-
iment, than the foreign makes.
To make good cheese the milk must be
pure. No good cheese was ever made of i'm
pure or diseased milk. The rennet and the
salt must be pure. 1t is rennet that makes
the cheese and digests it; it coagulates the
milk into solid form, and by continuing its
action reduces it again to soluble form
very simply, the gastric juice. The effect of
whey in cheese-making is to form an acid
which obscures or overcomes faint, but at
the same time whey contains within itself
nearly all the taints and impurities of the
milk. 1t has also another effect, to carry an
excess OF moisture into the cheese, also by
the production of acid to neutralize the &C.
tive force of rennet in the cure.
1t is not enough that the rennct has coag-
ulated the milk; its action must continue
throughout the curing and maturing process,
or we have poor, indigestibie cheese Acid
Kills Its action in the process of making and
early curing, and is therefore Objectionable.
The little particles of hard, uncured curd in
acid cheese are evidences of the toughening
effects of the acid. The rennet property in
those particles being entirely destroyed they
refuse to break down, and such cheese will
never be fit for food because indigestble, nor
palatable because the fine favor has been
neutralized by the acid action. The samples
OF foreign cheese mentioned above were lax
alive in their tendencies, while Ameirscan
cheese is constipating. The former may be
eaten freely as you would eat bread, and you
feel no oppression. Not so the cheese we
are making. The best of our factory cheese
you cannot eat as other food, because it is so
constipating. When properly made cheese
is as nutritiye as beef and even more SO, yet
no constipating food can be healthtuI, and
person cannot eat much of it.
We must make cheese and not use so much
acid. Prof. Arnold says his way is to heat
the milk to blood heat before applying the
rennet, then theIe is no after-heating to do,
only to keep thesheat up to the blood heat
point, so that the digestive process shall go
forward naturally Curd does not ferment,
the whey ferments and the curd feels its in
huence, and reacts upon the whey. When
curd is fit to dip it has stale smell. The
enect.of this stale condition is to promote de-
cay.
Radical changes, suddenly made are not
advised. Begin with the thorough ventilation
of the milk at the dairy. A common fault is
the formation of faint from lack of proper
ventilation. If milk is we'll ventilated you
may carry it two or three miles, and its con-
dition for cheesemaking will be improved
thereby. 1t will make better cheese for this
agitation. The whey should be drawn off as
soon as the heat is applied The curd will
then become stringy and respond to the hot.
iron test even before the acid forms. In
drawing off the whey let the curd pack at
the sides of the vat, the whey passing off
down the middle between the curd; turn
over, and when drained quite dry it will re-
spond to the hot iron. Break it up or put it
through curd mill, putting it to press, salt
ing little less than by the common method.
In answering to numerous interrogatives,
Prof. Arnold answered as fellows, accounting
for the disconnected matter given. Good
cheese cannot be produced from tainted milk
although the faint can be destroyed by heat
ing the milk to 140 degrees The samples of
foreign cheese showed fifteen to thirty per
cent. water, while much of the American
cheese contains thirty to fifty. Our cheese is
made to sell and not to keep; if we want
them to keep we must cook them dryer; if we
want them to cure very fast we will allow
them to retain more moisture. The best food
for mich cows, available to all, is soWed
corn; millet is also excellent, and every far
mer should have a crop of corn and millet
for green feeding. Corn being a juicy plant
should be wited day or two before feeding,
to get rid of the superfluous water. Peas
and oats grown together are excellent, and
will always pay for growing when grass is
short and dry. Wheat bran is very valuable
food for this purpose; it should not be fed
dry, but should be wet and mingled with
coarse food before feeding. Sowed corn is
best for feeding just while it is in blossom.
American Cultiuator.
American Agricultural Machinery.
The Paris Exhibition affords an excellent
opportunity for American manufacturers of
agricultural machinery to exhibit their wares.
in comparison with the mechanical produc-
tions of other nations. 1t appears that al
though this branch of business has largely in
creased In France of late years, the imports
of the same, two-thirds of which are from
England and Switzerland, exceed 34OO tons,
of value exceeding 100000 francs. With
respect to reapers and mowers, the total of
both in 1852 was under 1900 in the whole
country. In 1867 the reapers numbered
1883, and the mowers 1851, ard they have
increased SO fast since that the French max
ers have not been able to keep out English
and American implements. In the produc-
ton of small threshing-machines the French
manufacturers are said to excel. The num-
Der of threshing-machine of all kinds in 1856
was officially stated at 81, 900; in 1862 it was
nearly doubled, and in 1873 it had risen to
134, 900, of which nearly 1000 were worked by
steam. Here is a great field for American
enterprise. The English and Germans are