The curd is then cut, using the horizontal knife first and cutting lengthwise of the vat. The cutting is finished from this point with the perpendicular knife, the curd being thus cut into cubes one half inch in diameter.

Without waiting for the curd to settle, we begin stirring very carefully with a wire basket, and rub the curd off from the sides of the vat with the hand. As soon as this is done we turn on the heat carefully and raise the temperature slowly to 98° F.; when the curd is firm enough a wooden rake is used to stir it. The temperature is raised at the rate of one degree in four or five minutes.

As soon as the temperature of 98° F. is reached we begin trying the curd on the hot-iron for acid. We must have the curd firm enough when the whey is drawn, so that a double handful pressed together will fall apart readily. This is the test for a proper cooking. When fine threads one eighth of an inch in length show on the hot iron the whey is ready to draw. This should be two and a half hours from the time the milk was set. The whey is drawn off by means of a whey gate and a whey strainer, and the curd dipped into a curd-sink or on racks placed in the vat. There should be racks in the curd-sink over which a linen strainer-cloth is thrown. The curd is dipped onto this cloth and the whey drains through. The curd should be stirred, to facilitate the escape of the whey, and is then left to mat together. In fifteen or twenty minutes it can be cut into blocks eight or ten inches square, and turned over. After turning several times these blocks can be piled two or three deep. The acid will continue to develop in the curd; when it will string about an inch it will have assumed a stringy or meaty texture, so that it will tear like the meat on a chicken's breast.

It is then run through the curd-mill and cut up into small pieces. These pieces are stirred up every little while to air. In the course of another hour and a half there will be two inches of acid on the curd; it will smell like toasted cheese when pressed against the hot-iron, and when a handful is squeezed, half fat and half whey will run out between the fingers. It is then ready to salt. It is cooled to 80° F. be

fore salting. If a fast-curing cheese is wanted we use two pounds per hundred pounds of curd; two and a half pounds are used for a medium cheese, and three pounds for a slowcuring cheese. The curd should be spread out at an even thickness and the salt applied evenly. It should then be thoroughly stirred several times.

As soon as the harsh feeling has left the curd it is ready to go to press. The screw should be turned slowly, but fast enough so that a stream of brine is kept flowing. The full pressure should not be applied for ten minutes. In an hour the bandages can be turned down, and full pressure is then applied. The continuous-pressure gang-press made by D. H. Burrell and Co., is the most satisfactory, as the cheese will not loosen during the night. The next day the cheese are placed on the shelves and the rinds greased. They should be turned and rubbed every day. The temperature of the curing-room should be 60° to 65° F., and moisture should be supplied in dry weather. The cheese are boxed and shipped in about a month.

B. Cheese Made on the Farm.

For a farm dairy it will be much easier to make up sweet-curd cheese than sour-curd cheese, described in the preceding. For this purpose it is necessary to have a curdknife, a cheese-vat, and a cheese-press; the method of procedure is as follows:

The milk, which must be clean and sweet, is heated to 90° F., and if any artificial color is required it is added at this time. Set the milk with enough rennet extract to coagulate in 20 to 30 minutes. About four ounces of Hansen's rennet extract per 1000 lbs. of milk will prove a sufficient

amount.

As soon as the curd will break over the finger cut it fairly fine; then raise the temperature one degree in 3 minutes until 108° F. is reached, at the same time stirring carefully to keep the curd particles apart. Hold at 108° F. till the curd is firm, that is, till the pieces do not feel mushy. Then draw the whey and stir till the whey is well drained out. Salt at the rate of 2 lbs. of salt to 100 lbs. of curd, and when the salt is well worked in, put it to press. The cheese should be cured in a room (preferably a cellar)

where the temperature can be kept at 60° F., otherwise it will spoil. The cheese should be cured for two to three months before it is sold.

CAUSES OF TAINTED MILK.

The causes of tainted milk have been classified as follows, by the Swiss scientist, Dr. Gerber:

1. Poor, decayed fodders, or irrational methods of feeding. 2. Poor, dirty water, used for drinking-water or for the washing of utensils.

3. Foul air in cow-stable, or the cows lying in their own dung.

4. Lack of cleanliness in milking; manure particles on udder.

5. Keeping the milk long in too warm, poorly ventilated and dirty places.

6. Neglecting to cool the milk rapidly, directly after milking.

7. Lack of cleanliness in the care of the milk, from which cause the greater number of milk taints arise.

8. Poor transportation facilities.

9. Sick cows, udder diseases, etc.

10. Cows being in heat.

11. Mixing fresh and old milk in the same can. 12. Rusty tin pails and tin cans (Böggild).

DETECTING BAD MILK: DIRECTIONS FOR OP. ERATING THE WISCONSIN CURD-TEST.

Cheese-makers are often troubled with so-called floating, pinholed, or gassy curds which produce cheese defective in flavor and texture. The cause of this poor quality of cheese often seems beyond the power of the operator to determine. While he has heretofore usually laid it to "bad" milk, it was often impossible for him to locate the trouble. By means of the curd-test the operator is usually able to tell which patron or patrons are furnishing the bad milk; and often in the patron's herd it will be shown to be due to a single cow. This test as here described originated at the

Wisconsin Dairy School in 1895. Apparatus for making the test is now furnished by dairy supply-houses, although a home-made test can be improvised by using pint fruitjars and a wash-tub or some small tank, in which the jars of milk can be heated in warm water.

DETAILS OF THE TEST.-I. A pint glass jar which has been thoroughly cleaned, and sterilized with live steam, is filled about two thirds full with the milk to be tested.

2. It is not necessary to take an exact quantity of milk, but each jar should be plainly labeled.

3. The numbered jars of milk are placed in a tank or tub of water which is heated until the milk in the jars has a temperature of 98° F.

4. The thermometer used should first be rinsed in boiling water before being placed in another sample, to avoid contamination of good milk with bad milk.

5. When the milk has reached a temperature of 98° F., add 10 drops of rennet extract to each jar of milk, and mix by giving the jar a rotary motion.

6. The rennet soon curdles the milk, and the curd is allowed to stand for about twenty minutes until it is firm.

7. The curd should then be cut into small pieces with a case-knife, and after settling the whey is poured off. The best tests are made when the separation of whey is most complete. By allowing the samples to stand for a short time, more whey can be poured off, and the curd thereby rendered firmer.

8. The jars containing the curd are then again placed in the tub and the temperature of the water around the jars is maintained at or near 98° F. by adding hot water from time to time. The tub or vat is covered, the curds are allowed to ferment in the sample jars for six to twelve hours and are then examined.

9. The impurities in any particular sample will cause gases to be developed in the curd, so that when it is cut with a knife pin-holes or gas-holes can be easily detected. Milks having a putrefactive or stinking odor should be classed as bad, even though the curd has a good texture and is free from pin-holes.

The curds in this test are made under conditions most favorable for developing in them any defects which may be caused by the presence of undesirable bacteria that are brought to the milk by dust, dirt, and other impurities.

The odor of a curd should be noticed as soon as the cover is taken from a jar. This is often sufficient to convince a patron that the milk is tainted, and may suggest to him the particular cause of the odor by its resemblance to some familiar smell that he recognizes and can remove.

A solid firm curd shows that the milk is pure and clean and has been properly handled. The rather firm curds which show fine pin-holes when cut with a knife are indications of some of the worst impurities in milk, while the spongy curds show the presence of bacteria which in some cases have developed sufficient gas to float the curd. Persons familiar with milk soon learn to use the evidence obtained by this test to distinguish between good and bad milk, and to convince the milk-producers of the value of the (Dairy Bull., Wis. Exp. Station.)

test.

THE FERMENTATION TEST.

The Gerber fermentation test (modified by Monrad) furnishes a convenient method for discovering tainted milk on the farm or at the factory. The test consists of a tin tank which can be heated by means of a small lamp, and into which a rack fits holding a certain number of cylindrical glass tubes; these are all numbered and provided with a mark and a tin cover. In making the test the tubes are filled to the mark with milk, the number of each tube being recorded in a notebook opposite the name of the particular patron whose milk was placed therein. The tubes in the rack are put in the tank, which is two thirds full of water; the temperature of the water is kept at 104-106° F. for six hours, when the rack is taken out, the tubes gently shaken, and the appearance of the milk, its odor, taste, etc., carefully noted in each case. The tubes are then again heated in the tank at the same temperature as before for another six hours, when observations are once more taken of the ap