=Cooking the Curd.=—After breaking up the curd to the size of peas or beans, the stirring is discontinued for about ten minutes, when it is begun again and the kettle is turned over the fire, or steam is applied, to heat the curd to 140° under constant stirring which is continued for 45 to 60 minutes after this temperature has been reached. The condition of the curd is judged by squeezing a handful and noticing its elasticity and consistency. It is important to stop stirring at the right moment. More whey is expelled in making Swiss cheese than for Cheddar cheese. The cooking and agitating having been finished, the mass, which now consists of grains the size of wheat, is once more stirred up with such force as to make it form a funnel at the center and it is then left at rest for five to ten minutes. The curd, forming a rather solid cake at the bottom of the kettle, is now lifted out without being broken. One end of a large piece of cloth is folded around a flexible rod. Bending over the kettle the maker takes hold of both ends of the rod and gathering the other end of the cloth between his teeth, pushes the rod down along the farther side of the kettle, letting it follow the bottom towards himself until the whole mass of curd is gathered in the cloth, when it is lifted out of the kettle and placed in the hoop on the press table. The hoop can be enlarged or diminished to take care of a varying amount of curd which is put into it in the same solid cake as formed in the kettle without being broken. Pressure is applied, at first, gently, later heavier and after half an hour the cheese is taken out, turned and provided with fresh bandage, put back into press and left till the next day. [Illustration: In Swiss cheese making the curd is lifted out of the vat with a strong cloth ] Curing and Salting.—The cheese is first placed in a curing room above ground and heated in winter. After a few weeks it is removed to the cellar. Sometimes three to five cheese are piled one on the top of the other for a few days with a few handfuls of salt between them. The salting proper is done by rubbing and brushing dry salt and the brine formed from same into the cheese,—altogether 4 to 5 lbs. of salt to 100 lbs. of cheese. Every day it is rubbed with a dry rag and the cheese is turned and salted on the other side until the salt is thoroughly incorporated. [Illustration: Swiss cheese press ] The cheese is cured for at least 100 days in the factory and is usually stored for another three to six months by the dealer before it is ready for the consumer. =Roquefort.=—The French _Roquefort_ is inoculated with a mold from stale bread which spreads through the cheese and produces the peculiar flavor of this type. It is made from sheep’s milk and was formerly cured in cool subterranean caverns, but now in elaborate curing houses. In this country imitation Roquefort is made of cow’s milk and cured in cold storage.