_Treatment of Edam curd after cutting._--When the cutting is completed, one commences at once to heat the curd up to the temperature of 93° to 96° F. The heating is done as quickly as possible. While the heating is in progress, the curd is kept constantly agitated to prevent settling and consequent overheating. As soon as the curd shows signs of hardening, which the experience of the worker will enable him to determine, the whey is drawn off until the upper surface of the curd appears, when one should commence to fill the press molds. [Illustration: FIG. 27.--Edam cheese mold.] _Filling molds, pressing and dressing Edam._--The molds, which are described later in detail, are well soaked in warm water previous to use, in order to prevent too sudden chilling of curd and consequent checking of separation of whey. As soon as whey is drawn off, as indicated above, one begins to fill the pressing molds (Fig. 27). The filling should be done as rapidly as possible to prevent too great cooling of curd. When the curd has been put into the molds, its temperature should not be below 88° F. Unless care is taken to keep the curd covered, the portion that is last put into the molds may become too much cooled. In making Edam cheese on a small scale, it is a good plan to squeeze the moisture out with the hands as much as possible and then break it up again before putting in the molds, when the curd should be pressed into the mold firmly by the hands. The molds should be filled as nearly alike as possible. The cheese should weigh from 5 to 5¼ pounds each when ready for the press. When the filling of molds is completed, they are put under continual pressure of 20 to 25 pounds for about twenty-five or thirty minutes. While the cheese is being pressed, some sweet whey is heated to a temperature of 125° or 130° F., and this whey should not be allowed to go below 120° F. at any time while it is being used. When the cheeses are taken from their molds, each is put into the warm whey for two minutes, then removed and dressed. For dressing Edam cheese, the ordinary cheese bandage cloth is used. This is cut into strips, which should be long enough to reach entirely around the cheese and overlap an inch or so, and which should be wide enough to cover all but a small portion of the ends of the cheese when put in place. Before putting on the bandage, all rough projections should be carefully pared from the cheese. In putting on, the cheese is held in one hand and the bandage is wrapped carefully around the cheese, so that the whole is covered, except a small portion on the upper and lower surface of the cheese. These bare spots are covered by small pieces of bandage cloth of a size sufficient to fill the bare surface. The bandage is kept wet with the warm sweet whey, thus facilitating the process of dressing. After each cheese is dressed, it should be replaced in the dressing mold, care being taken that the bandage remains in place and leaves no portion of